Technology and Systems
eWFM




Checklist
EWFM Housekeeping
Running Budget Forecast for Requirements
Running a Call Volume Forecast
Essbase
 What is Essbase
 Connecting
 Setting up a pull sheet
RPS
 Navigating through RPS
 Viewing Reports
 Adding a class
Project Management
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

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Creating Views
Exporting
Sorting
Last 7 Day View
1
Technology and Systems - eWFM
eWFM
What is eWFM?
eWFM is a comprehensive resource planning and
staff management system that provides the tools
needed to achieve contact-center sales and service
goals at the lowest cost.
The software can be described as serving three main
application areas: forecasting, scheduling, and
tracking.
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Technology and Systems - eWFM
eWFM Checklist
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Technology and Systems - eWFM
eWFM Housekeeping
Housekeeping checklist for SFE’s:
 Trial Schedules:
 Delete all old trial schedule sets that are no longer used
 Maintain trial schedules by only keeping trial sets that are needed
 Delete old shift bids 90 days after effective date
Schedule\Forecast Runs
 Delete old schedule\forecast runs- retention period is 14 months. The SFEs
should NOT delete any forecast or schedule runs that were created by the
Capacity Planning team.
 Delete Forecast Scenarios that are not being used
 HISTORICAL DATA, including nco\aht patterns, aht sets, shrinkage sets, special
nco\aht patterns should NOT be deleted.
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Technology and Systems - eWFM
eWFM Housekeeping
Housekeeping checklist for eWfm Administration Team
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Technology and Systems - eWFM
Staffing Requirements
What are Staffing Requirements?
• The number of people – bodies in chairs – required to accomplish the
forecast volume of work within the desired amount of time.
How are Staffing Requirements calculated?
• eWFM is utilized to determine staff requirements by running a budget
forecast.
• The forecast determines requirements based on volume, productivity and
other business assumptions input into the system.
• The system then utilizes interval call data for each day, and refers to the
historical trends to determine the staff needed by interval, then aggregates
the daily FTE for each week, to determine an FTE requirement for a month.
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Technology and Systems - eWFM
Creating a Budget Forecast
Before Beginning:
• Monthly Historical Updates
• Intra-Day Patterns Updated
• Growth Rate, Day of week factors correct
• Normal hours of operation are set
• Identify or update Daily AHT sets that will be used
• Forecasting Scenarios created
• Confirm Service Level Accuracy
• Update Shrinkage Sets
• Update Occupancy Percents
• Create forecast
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Technology and Systems - eWFM
Monthly Updates
 Listed under
Forecasting module
 Select Forecast
Group, Historical
Patterns, Monthly
Updates
 Select Forecast
Group
 Verify the most
recent month has
been updated
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Technology and Systems - eWFM
Intra-Day Updates
 Listed under
Forecasting module
 Select Forecast
Group, Historical
Patterns, Normal
NCO
 Select Forecast
Group
 Verify the default
patterns has been
updated
 Also verify AHT
Intra-Day patterns by
selecting Normal AHT
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Technology and Systems - eWFM
Operating Hours
 Listed under
Forecasting module
 Select Forecast
Group, Historical
Patterns, Normal
Operating Hours
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Technology and Systems - eWFM
Operating Hours
 Hours of operation should be set
up under the Forecast Groups,
Historical patterns, Normal
Operating Hours tab
 If 24x7 operation, one set can
be set up with hours set from
Sunday midnight to Sunday
midnight
 Operation hours that differ by
day, need to be set up
separately
 Special operating hours can
be set up in the Special
Operating Hours tab for “What
if” scenarios or holiday reduced
hours
 Staff group Normal hours of
operation should be set 24x7
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Technology and Systems - eWFM
Growth Rate and Day of Week Factors
 Listed under
Forecasting module
 Select Forecast
Group, Historical
Patterns, Monthly
Updates
 Select most recent
month, right click, and
choose edit.
 On the general tab,
confirm forecast
group.
 Review that Growth
Rate, and New day of
week factors are in
line.
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Technology and Systems - eWFM
Growth Rate and Seasonal Factors
 Listed under
Configuration module
 Select Forecasting,
Forecast Groups
 Select the forecast
group, right click, and
select edit.
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Technology and Systems - eWFM
Growth Rate and Seasonal Factors
 On the general tab, you can
verify the forecast group, work
code, and the time zone that
the group is set up in.
 The Historical tab reflects the
average daily volume, annual
growth rate, and monthly
seasonal factors
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Technology and Systems - eWFM
Daily Handle Time Sets
 Handle Time sets are created and assigned to forecast scenarios
 Handle Time along with volume, availability and occupancy is used to calculate
requirements
 AHT is measured in seconds
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Technology and Systems - eWFM
Updating Daily AHT Sets
 Listed under
Forecasting module
 Select Forecast
Group, Historical
Patterns, Daily AHT
Sets
 Validate
Handletimes are
listed
 If not listed, right
click and select add
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Technology and Systems - eWFM
Updating Daily AHT Sets
 Select the forecast group
 Name your set in the
“code” field
 Input description
 Input your monthly AHT in
each daily box
 Save and close
 A set has to be input for
each different AHT used
throughout the year
 AHT sets are assigned in
the forecast scenario
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Technology and Systems - eWFM
Forecasting Scenarios
 NMISFI – Financial spread updated by the Cap Planner and entered as a monthly
number
 NMISCA – Set up by SFE. Updated monthly with daily spread of cap volume prior
to the start of a new month. Should not make adjustments to this scenario
 NMISOP – Set up by SFE. Updated with operational changes made throughout
the month. Should be set as default
 Cappublish – Set up by Cap Planners and used to update requirements
 WhatifCap – Set up by Cap Planners and used for what if scenarios
 Located under the
forecasting tab
 Select Forecast Group
 Choose Add
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Technology and Systems - eWFM
Forecasting Scenarios
 Historical Growth Rate – This growth rate is based on historical data that your
business has developed over time. To use this type of forecasting scenario it is
important that all historical updates and trends are kept up-to-date.
 Historical Growth Rate with adjustments – Select this option if you want to
increase or decrease volume for specific periods because of unusual circumstances.
 User-Supplied Growth Rate – Select this option if you want to specify a growth
rate rather than use the systemically calculated growth rate.
 User-Supplied Growth Rate with Adjustments – Used to specify a growth rate and
make volume adjustments
 User-Supplied Fiscal Volume – Used to supply forecast volumes by fiscal period
rather than have them systemically generated. Aspect uses day-of-week factors
associated with the forecast group when generating a forecast
 User-Supplied Daily Volume – Specify specific daily volumes by date rather than
have Aspect generate them. You can supply a daily volume for any span of days.
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Technology and Systems - eWFM
Forecasting Scenarios
 NMISFI – Set up as User-supplied
fiscal volume
 NMISCA – Set up as User-supplied
daily volume
 NMISOP – Set up as User-supplied
daily volume or growth rate
 Staffing basis is usually Service Level
 Fiscal Calendar is usually MNTHLY
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Technology and Systems - eWFM
Forecast Scenarios
 General tab includes
Forecast group, name of
scenario, and description
 Multiple scenarios can be created but at least 1 scenario must be set as
default. This will be the scenario IDP’s are created from.
 “What if” scenarios can be created for volume, service level assumptions,
longer operating hours etc.
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Technology and Systems - eWFM
Updating Volume
 Fiscal tab includes monthly
volumes.
 To update, select the
Forecast Scenario, right click,
and edit.
 On the fiscal tab, select
Add
 Select the month you want
to update.
 Input the volume, and
select OK
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Technology and Systems - eWFM
Updating Handletime
 Intra-Day tab used to assign special distributions. Use default or
select from drop down of created distributions
 Assign special AHT distributions as well as volume
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Technology and Systems - eWFM
Updating Handletime
 Assign Daily
AHT sets.
 Use default-the
AHT set assigned
as your default
under daily AHT
sets in historical
patterns.
 Assign a
special set
created
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Technology and Systems - eWFM
Updating Service Level
 Used to assign
service level
requirements
 Specific to
business
 80% of calls to
be answered in 20
seconds or less
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Technology and Systems - eWFM
Shrinkage Sets
What is shrinkage?
• The amount of time staff is doing something other than handling contacts,
for example breaks, training, meetings or some other unproductive activity.
What are shrinkage sets?
• A shrinkage set contains percentages for each shrinkage category by day of
week.
• eWFM considers shrinkage when calculating requirements.
• Multiple sets can created and used to reflect different operating conditions.
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Technology and Systems - eWFM
Shrinkage Sets
 To define
shrinkage sets, in
the Forecasting
module, select
Staff Group, then
Historical
Patterns, and
Staff Shrinkage
 Select the
appropriate staff
group
 Select a
scenario already
created, or set up
a new one.
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Technology and Systems - eWFM
Shrinkage Sets
 To set up a new one, click Add.
 On the General tab, select the
appropriate staff group.
 Input a code and description.
 Select the Misc tab.
 Enter shrinkage percentages for
each day of the week.
 Different percentages can be used
per interval also.
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Technology and Systems - eWFM
Staffing Scenarios
 A Staffing Scenario tells eWFM what your objectives and assumptions are
in calculating staffing requirements.
 In the Forecasting Module, drill down under Staff Group, then Staffing
Scenarios.
 Select the staff group from the list. Select the scenario you need to use, or
create a new one.
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Technology and Systems - eWFM
Adding Staffing Scenarios
 To add a new scenario, right click in the staff group, and select add
 On the General tab, select the staff group from the drop down box
 Input Code, and Description
 Code should be named consistently with the Forecast Scenario it is
associated with, so this could be named Cappublish with a description of
Scenario/Published Cap Plans
 If creating What if scenarios, update the memo field with the reason for the
scenario, such as comparing occupancy 90% and 100%
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Technology and Systems - eWFM
Adding Staffing Scenarios
 On the Occupancy tab, input the desired occupancy by day.
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Technology and Systems - eWFM
Adding Staffing Scenarios
 On the Shrinkage tab, assign the shrinkage
set you want to use
 Select the “Enter Range” box, input the date
range.
 Select the shrinkage set to use from the
drop down box
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Technology and Systems - eWFM
Budget Forecast
What is a Budget Forecast?
• A budget forecast provides forecast volumes for each fiscal period, and
based on historical patterns and scenario assumptions, the following budget
information for each period:
• Volume
• Abandon contact cost
• Net revenue
• Base hours
• Base FTE
• Total FTE
• Total hours
• Holiday hours
• Peak positions
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Technology and Systems - eWFM
Creating a forecast using the Forecast Wizard
 Using the Forecast Wizard will walk you through creating a budget
forecast.
 Under the Forecasting module, select Routing Set
 Select Forecasting Wizard, then “Open” in the right hand box
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Technology and Systems - eWFM
Creating a forecast using the Forecast Wizard
 Select the type of Forecast, in this case Budget
 Select “Next”
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Technology and Systems - eWFM
Creating a forecast using the Forecast Wizard
 Under Routing Set, choose the correct group from the drop down box
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Technology and Systems - eWFM
Creating a forecast using the Forecast Wizard
 Select the Forecast group by
choosing the “Options” button
 Select the scenario in the drop
down box
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Technology and Systems - eWFM
Creating a forecast using the Forecast Wizard
 Select the Staff group, then the
scenario by choosing “Options”
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Technology and Systems - eWFM
Creating a forecast using the Forecast Wizard
 Select the date range for the forecast
 Run name should be descriptive, and unique, so that you will be able to identify
it
 Verify time zone, the select “Finish” to run the forecast
 The “Generating forecast” box appears
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Technology and Systems - eWFM
Viewing Budget Forecast Results
 There are several print options to choose, Preview, Print, or Export
 On the Options tab, choose “MNTHLY”, display date range. You can also
include assumptions.
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Technology and Systems - eWFM
Viewing Budget Forecast Results
 Base Hours – Required Staff hours without shrinkage
 Base FTE – Required Staff hours without shrinkage, converted to FTE
 Total Hours – Required Staff hours including shrinkage assumptions
 Total FTE – Required Staff hours including shrinkage assumptions, converted to
FTE (This is the number used in the cap plan.)
 Holiday Hours – Required Staff hours need on holidays designated as “Legal
Holiday” in the Holiday Factors
 Peak Positions - The maximum number of staff required in any half hour within
a given date range.
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Technology and Systems - eWFM
Creating a Volume Forecast
A volume forecast can be created using the Forecasting
Wizard.
Volume forecasts can be created as a checkpoint to
verify that Day of Week factors are correct.
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Technology and Systems - eWFM
Creating a volume forecast in eWfm
 Forecasting tab
 Drill down under
Routing Set
 Select the Forecasting
Wizard
 Select Open
 The forecasting Wizard
walks through all of the
information needed
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Technology and Systems - eWFM
Creating a forecast in eWfm
 Creating a daily spread,
based on a monthly
number that is already
established in a scenario
 For this exercise, select
a contact volume forecast
 This type of forecast run
will spread volume to a
daily or intra-day spread
 Select “Next”
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Technology and Systems - eWFM
Creating a forecast in eWfm
 Select “Include daily
totals only”
 Select “Next”
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Technology and Systems - eWFM
Creating a forecast in eWfm
 Select the “Routing Set” drop down box
 Choose the appropriate routing set for
the forecast group, and select “OK”
 The Routing set box will auto populate
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Technology and Systems - eWFM
Creating a forecast in eWfm
 Select the Options box to
change the scenario
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Technology and Systems - eWFM
Creating a forecast in eWfm
 Choose the scenario containing the
monthly volume needed to spread
 The NMISFI scenario will be used for
this exercise.
 Select OK
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Technology and Systems - eWFM
Creating a forecast in eWfm
 The date range will be the month the forecast is for. Make sure the same
date range is in the forecast scenario, unless a growth rate scenario is being
used
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Technology and Systems - eWFM
Creating a forecast in eWfm
 The run name should
be something descriptive
such as the Month and
year. The run name has
to be unique.
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Technology and Systems - eWFM
Creating a forecast in eWfm
 Select the time
zone for which the
forecast is run.
 Should be the
same time zone
that the forecast
group is set up in
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Technology and Systems - eWFM
Creating a forecast in eWfm
 The forecast is ready to run
 Select finish
 Once generated, choose how to
view
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Technology and Systems - eWFM
Creating a forecast in eWfm
 Displays daily volumes, Holiday
factors, and assumptions used to
create the forecast
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Technology and Systems - Essbase
Essbase
What is Essbase?
Essbase is the database Finance uses in NAO&T to
store and report data for budget and results for each
answering group.
Essbase is used to load forecast data, and retrieve
results to ensure accuracy with Financial reporting.
To use Essbase, you must have the Excel Add-in
installed on your computer.
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Technology and Systems - Essbase
Essbase
 To get started with Essbase, it must
be added to Excel
 Select Tools, then Add-Ins on the
tool bar.
 Should see Hyperion Essbase OLAP
Server DLL (non-unicode)
 If Essbase is not in the Add-Ins box,
select browse.
 Search in the following location:
C:\Apps\Hyperion\Analytic
Services\bin\essexcln
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Technology and Systems - Essbase
Essbase
Essbase has six distinct member categories for each
data point:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Site (Gray, Florence)
Year (2009)
Scenario (Actual, Forecast)
Business (RPL Consumer, Legacy Bankcard)
Activity (Calls Offered, Handletime)
Time (January, February)
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Technology and Systems - Essbase
Essbase – Signing On
 Once the Add-In has been installed,
sign into the database
 Select the Essbase menu
 Select Connect
 The Server should be
“Crddb020.Core.Afcc.com”
 User name is SOEID
 Password is SOEID password
 Application/Database box will list the
databases that are accessible.
 NAOTFIN – Displays metrics
 Op_Staff – Displays headcount
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Technology and Systems - Essbase
Essbase – Setting up a pull sheet
 Once Signed On, select the Options on the Essbase tool bar.
 Mode tab – Check Retain on Retrieval
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Technology and Systems - Essbase
Essbase – Setting up a pull sheet
 Global Tab – Make sure
“Warnings” is checked under
the Display Messages box
 Memory - Make sure “Enable
Flashback” is checked – this
acts as an undo, but can only
be done once.
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Technology and Systems - Essbase
Essbase – Setting up a pull sheet
 Under the Essbase toolbar, select “Member
Selection”
 Select the Dimension drop down to display each
your first selection
 Activity list will display metrics such as call volume,
AHT, Avail, Occ, ASA and SL
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Technology and Systems - Essbase
Essbase – Setting up a pull sheet
 Time – Provides
the month’s of the
year in several
different formats
 Quarters
 YTD
 Monthly
 Monthly YTD
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Technology and Systems - Essbase
Essbase – Setting up a pull sheet
 Year – Provides
data for each year
 If manually typing
in the year, be sure
to include the work
“Year” in front of the
numerical year
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Technology and Systems - Essbase
Essbase – Setting up a pull sheet
 Scenario – The
distinction between
Actual and Forecast
 Typically, there
should be an Actual
pull, and a Forecast
pull.
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Technology and Systems - Essbase
Essbase – Setting up a pull sheet
 Business –
Select appropriate
business
 Drill down to
expand to a specific
business
 Some businesses
have “roll-ups”, i.e
Bankcard Legacy is
Citicards Base and
Bankcard Legacy
Multi
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Technology and Systems - Essbase
Essbase – Setting up a pull sheet
 The above chart represents the best format to pull
 To retrieve information, highlight the area on the excel sheet, and choose
“Retrieve” from the drop down menu
 If the set up is correct, the information will populate, if the set up is incorrect,
Essbase will not return any data, or it will return in the wrong format
 By selecting Flashback, Essbase will undo what was just done
65
Technology and Systems - RPS
RPS
What is RPS?
RPS is a tool designed to provide consistent
communication for hiring needs across all business
functions.
It was designed to improve the ability to identify sites
and/or functional areas with hiring concerns, and is
utilized by Operations, H.R. Staffing, and Training.
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Technology and Systems - RPS
RPS
Data Input is owned by the Capacity Planning Group:
 Access to add, change, and /or delete classes lies solely within
the Capacity Planning group.
 Any requested changes for any reason need to go through
Capacity Planning
Once a class is in RPS:
 No requisition needs to be generated in order to hire the class.
 Automatic approval to hire.
7 Day Rule:
 No last minute changes can be made to the hiring goals.
 Within 7 days of the class start date, Capacity Planners are locked
out of making changes to class goals.
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Technology and Systems - RPS
RPS – Accessing RPS
 To access the RPS system,
enter the NaHr system by using
the following:
http://www.citigroup.net/citicards/h
r/?currPage=Home
 Select the “HR Applications”
tab at the top.
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Technology and Systems - RPS
RPS – Accessing RPS
 Under the Careers & Staffing
tab, click on the Resource
Planning System (RPS)
 Enter you SOEID and SOEID
password.
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Technology and Systems - RPS
RPS – Signing on to the system
 You will be directed to this screen.
 Select Resource Planning from the menu on top.
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Technology and Systems - RPS
RPS – Summary Reports
 Select Hiring Need at the top.
 The default view will appear. The sorting order can be changed by
selecting the arrows at the top of each column.
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Technology and Systems - RPS
RPS – Summary Reports
 By selecting “Modify View”, you
can configure the information you
would like to see.
 Filtering by Business, Site
Function etc. will help to conform to
your needs and preferences.
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Technology and Systems - RPS
RPS – Summary Reports
 By selecting “Modify View”, you
can configure the information you
would like to see.
 Filtering by Business, Site
Function etc. will help to conform to
your needs and preferences.
 You can save the view as your
default.
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Technology and Systems - RPS
RPS – Summary Reports
 By selecting the
Hiring Summary tab,
you can view a
summary by site,
and by function for a
date range.
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Technology and Systems - RPS
RPS – Adding a class
 From the hiring need page, select the “Add
New” link in the right hand corner
 You will be directed to this page
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Technology and Systems - RPS
RPS – Adding a class
 Business – Cards Operations, Retail
Operations, etc.
 Classification – Full Time, Part Time,
Both
 Demographic – External, Internal, Temp
or Home agent
 Training Class Type – New Hire, OJT, or
Both
 Testing Requirement – Tested or NonTested
 Training Requirement – Yes or No
 Position Title – Select the correct title
and grade level for the hiring need
 Date Needed – All hiring requests should
be entered at least 30 days prior to the
requested start date
 Start Time – Leave the default selection
of 8:00 AM
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Technology and Systems - RPS
RPS – Adding a class
 Function and Sub-function –
Choose the Site location for the class
 Select the Group name such as
Collections, Customer Service
Phones, RACO, etc.
 Choose the Department name
such as Legacy Cards, Retention,
CRT, etc.
 Headcount – Enter the number of
agents that are needed for the class.
 Rationale for Action – Reason for
request such as understaffed,
attrition, Back Fill, etc.
 Comments – Additional detail
regarding the need.
 Once completed, select Save.
77
Technology and Systems – Project Management
Project Management Dashboard
 Program Management Dashboard will communicate required
information for the Capacity Planners and SFE’s to update the
forecasts with up to date program information.





Program Type
Targeted Population parameters
Forecasted Volume and contact rates
Key Program Dates
Customer Communication and Response Mechanism
 PMs update dashboard weekly
 3 Views/Reports Specifically for WFM use
 WFM+ Portfolio Select Page
 WFM can select the portfolios of their choice
 WFM Last 7 Days Filter Page
 Shows all modifications for the last week
 Historical Program Page
 Filters all Active and Inactive programs by Category to compare Volume
Forecasts and actual performance
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Technology and Systems – Project Management
WFM Portfolio Select Page
To Create a New Personal View
https://globalconsumer.collaborationtools.consumer.citigroup.net/sites/PPM/dashboard/Lists/D
esktopDashboard/In%20Progress%20Projects.aspx
Click on
View and
scroll down
to Create
View
FYI- Other
WFM
Views
Available
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Technology and Systems – Project Management
WFM Portfolio Select Page
If a similar public view already exists, start with that

If you would like to add a column, change the appearance of the view, this is
the best format
Select the View that
most resembles what
you want to create
To create a new view select the format of your choice
80
Technology and Systems – Project Management
WFM Portfolio Select Page
If a similar public view already exists, start with that

If you would like to add a column, change the appearance of the view, this is the best
format
Select a name for your view
Select the View that
most resembles what
you want to create
Position is the order of
the columns on your
view
Check the Display
box if you want
the column to
appear on your
view
Additional functions available to increase or
decrease the records that populate in view
81
Technology and Systems – Project Management
WFM Portfolio Exporting Data
To Export Data, go to view
that has the data you wish to
export
Once on the view, click on
actions, export to spreadsheet
to get all data in excel
82
Technology and Systems – Project Management
WFM Portfolio Additional Sorting
The dashboard is
filtered by volume
impacts.
To change the
sorting of the
records, hover over
the field name.
Click on the arrow
to bring up the
sorting options.
Ascending,
Descending, or by
specific detail used
in the field
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Technology and Systems – Project Management
WFM Portfolio Last 7 Day View
View all changes to any programs
Click on Version History
to view all changes
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