This document discusses two advanced analytics features in Oracle | RightNow CX: comparison and trend values. Comparison values allow users to compare data from two different time periods, such as comparing open incidents this month to the same month last year. Trend values enable users to forecast future metrics by extending past trends. The document provides examples of setting up comparison values to analyze seasonal changes in a contact center's workload and help determine when additional staffing may be needed.

1. Advanced
Analytics:
Comparison
and
Trend
Save
Harbour
Statement
This
document
may
include
predictions,
estimates
or
other
information
that
might
be
considered
forward-­‐looking.
While
these
forward-­‐looking
statements
represent
our
current
judgment
on
what
the
future
holds,
they
are
subject
to
risks
and
uncertainties
that
could
cause
actual
results
to
differ
materially.
You
are
cautioned
not
to
place
undue
reliance
on
these
forward-­‐looking
statements,
which
reflect
my
opinions
only
as
of
the
date
of
this
document.
Please
keep
in
mind
that
we
are
not
obligating
ourselves
to
revise
or
publicly
release
the
results
of
any
revision
to
these
forward
looking
statements
in
light
of
new
information
or
future
events.
Throughout
this
document,
we
will
attempt
to
present
some
important
factors
relating
to
our
business
that
may
affect
our
predictions.
Pre-­‐requisites
In
order
to
get
the
most
out
of
the
document
you
will
have
had
some
training
in
the
Oracle
|
RightNow
CX
product
around
analytics
and
administration.
You’ll
also
be
familiar
with
editing
reports
and
might
have
had
a
go
at
writing
rules.
The
document
has
some
complicated
analytics
but
the
report
you
need
is
available
to
import.
This
document
covers
some
new
functionality
on
the
system,
and
anyone
who
has
been
around
the
product
for
a
few
years
is
going
to
be
pleased
that
a
new
table
and
a
new
piece
of
functionality
has
been
exposed.
The
CX
version
used
for
this
document
is
Nov
’13.
This
document
has
been
written
an
informal
style,
to
impart
experience
rather
than
as
a
formal
training
document.
If
you
would
like
to
receive
training
on
analytics,
administration
or
any
aspect
of
Oracle
|
RightNow
CX
contact
me
at
mark.kehoe@outlook.com
or
on
0487
335311
or
via
LinkedIn.
Introduction
There
are
two
useful
features
within
analytics
that
I’ve
found
useful
in
mature
contact
centres.
Often
within
contact
centres
there
are
busy
periods
within
the
year
or
month
and
sometimes
we
need
to
figure
out
when
things
will
pick
up
or
calm
down.
Equally,
as
the
usage
of
the
system
ramps
up
you
might
need
to
calculate
when
more
staff
would
be
needed.
The
comparison
and
trend
values
enable
you
to
look
into
the
past
or
look
into
the
future.
They
work
well
with
date
ranges
and
a
pre-­‐requisite
in
getting
the
best
out
of
them
both
is
to
have
added
relative
dates
and
date
grouping
into
the
report.
By
Mark
Kehoe
©
Kehoe
Consulting

2. Advanced
Analytics:
Comparison
and
Trend
Comparison
Comparison
values
enable
you
to
look
into
the
past.
We
can
to
compare
two
periods
side
by
side
and
using
the
date
group
function
this
can
be
pretty
flexible.
Usually
the
two
values
would
be
something
like
open
incidents
for
this
month
compared
to
open
incidents
for
the
same
month
last
year.
Once
you
get
the
hang
of
it
you
can
do
some
really
clever
things
such
as
adding
the
values
to
the
graph
for
a
quick
visual
indicator
but
for
now
I’ll
keep
it
to
the
basics.
I’ve
made
a
copy
of
the
incident
backlog
report
and
will
use
this
for
my
example.
My
contact
centre
has
a
busy
period
over
Christmas
and
based
on
the
figures
from
last
year
I’d
like
to
know
when
I
could
expect
an
influx
of
emails.
I’m
going
to
work
on
the
backlog
to
figure
out
when
I
need
to
hire
more
staff.
1.
Click
on
the
Max.
Backlogged
column.
From
Figure
1:
Inserting
a
comparison
the
design
tab
click
on
Insert
Column
and
value
into
a
report
select
Comparison
Value.
If
its
all
worked
well
then
you
should
see
the
a
new
column
added
to
your
report
called
Comparison
Value
(Max.
Backlogged).
Now
the
column
has
been
added
the
value
can
be
changed
so
that
I
can
make
it
function
as
I
need.
For
some
inexplicable
reason,
head
back
to
the
home
tab
and
on
the
right-­‐hand
side
click
Comparison.
You
should
see
the
following:
Figure
2:
Configuring
a
comparison
value
With
our
two
columns
we
can
now
start
playing
around
with
the
values.
In
my
example
I
want
to
see
what
was
going
on
this
time
last
year.
Comparison
allows
for
relative
values
so
I
can
put
-­‐1
Year
for
this
time
last
year.
With
the
date
group
on
the
report
set
to
a
week
I
can
now
see
this
week
last
year:
This
image
gives
you
the
idea
although
it
looks
a
bit
odd
to
me
as
it’s
in
the
middle
of
the
report,
but
hopefully
you
get
the
idea.
By
Mark
Kehoe
©
Kehoe
Consulting

3. Advanced
Analytics:
Comparison
and
Trend
Next
comes
the
exciting
part
of
seeing
the
comparison
values
appear
in
the
report.
As
the
report
runs,
we
will
be
prompted
to
enter
an
offset
against
the
Figure
3:
Changing
the
comparison
offset
date
range.
It
will
look
something
like
the
image
shown
below.
In
this
example
I’m
interested
in
weekly
figures:
The
report
starts
making
sense
when
we
see
the
output.
In
my
report
we
will
now
have
a
new
column
containing
this
years
compared
to
last
year’s
figures:
By
Mark
Kehoe
©
Kehoe
Consulting

4. Advanced
Analytics:
Comparison
and
Trend
If
required
you
can
change
the
headings
to
something
more
meaningful
but
I’ve
left
mine
as
the
defaults.
Trending
Trending
allows
us
to
see
where
figures
are
going.
We
can
also
project
forward
based
on
information
from
the
past
and
that
is
how
I
typically
like
to
use
trending.
To
create
a
trend
select
the
column
we
wish
to
project
with.
Again,
I’ve
selected
the
Max.
Backlogged
column.
From
the
Design
tab
select
Insert
Column
and
choose
Trend
Value:
With
the
column
in
place
the
design
tab
now
has
an
extra
option.
For
the
life
of
me
I
have
no
idea
why
comparison
doesn’t
to
the
same
but
hey,
I’m
not
in
product
development.
As
you
can
see
from
the
image,
we
have
both
forecast
units
and
an
option
to
perform
a
forecast.
Note
that
the
further
forward
you
forecast,
the
less
accurate
the
values
can
become.
In
the
image
shown
to
the
right
I’ve
forecast
three
units
forward,
which
for
my
report
is
three
weeks.
It
relies
on
a
bit
of
common
sense
and
an
understanding
of
the
results
to
know
just
how
far
you
can
forecast
forward.
The
By
Mark
Kehoe
©
Kehoe
Consulting

5. Advanced
Analytics:
Comparison
and
Trend
more
history
you
have,
the
further
you
can
project.
Now
that
we
have
the
forecast
in
place
lets
take
a
look
to
see
what
the
result
would
be:
As
we
can
see,
the
figures
from
my
test
site
indicate
that
I’m
going
to
have
a
problem
in
a
few
weeks
time
after
Christmas
when
my
backlog
gets
out
of
hand!
Once
the
values
are
in
place
you
might
want
to
include
a
couple
of
additional
tasks.
The
forward
projected
values
against
the
other
fields
will
obviously
have
zeros
and
you
might
want
to
do
something
with
NVL
to
either
blank
them
out
or
put
in
some
text
to
explain
what
is
going
on.
Again,
the
dates
will
be
blank
so
you
might
want
to
do
some
more
NVL
work.
By
Mark
Kehoe
©
Kehoe
Consulting