The document discusses the need for contact center dashboards that can consolidate data from multiple sources, allow for drill down of details, be dynamically configured to user needs, have a visual design optimized for information display, and be easy to implement and modify. Standard dashboards from contact center software providers often lack these capabilities. A unified reporting solution is recommended to provide a fully featured dashboard overcoming the limitations of single platform dashboards.

1. Searching for a Dashboard March 2016
Almosteverycontactcentersoftware applicationnow hasadashboardoptionavailable toyou. Sothe
questioniswhyyouneedanotherdashboard.Whyare managersandseniormanagementlookingfor
dashboardswhentheyalreadyhave themattheirfingertips? Here are the topfive reasonswhy:
1. Consolidationof datafrommultiple applications;(platforms,internal data,otherCCapps)
2. Drill downcapabilitiestosee the details;(fromsummarytogroupto agentdetail)
3. DynamicDashboardto meetyourneeds;(Outof the box,one size fitsall)
4. Visual appearance of critical metrics;(Gridsvsgraphics,datainthe right place,delete certain
data)
5. Easy to implement,use,andmake changes.
Consolidation of Data
Consolidatingdatafrommultiple sourcesisthe mostimportantfeature of anydashboard. The benefit
to youis yourtime and outcome fromseeingcollaborateddatacause andeffecttoyourcall center.
Dashboardsthat come withyour contact centerplatformdonot allow forconsolidationof the data.The
data inthe dashboardisrestrictedtothe ACD that youhave inplace today. The abilitytocombine data
fromothersources is notallowed. There isarealisticreasonforthisrestriction;combiningdatafrom
outside sourceswill overloadthe serverprocessorforthe ACDcausingitto shutdown.
Today’scontact centerhas agentstakingcalls,answeringemailsandhavingchatsessionswith
customers. The agentperformance isnolongerlimitedtocalls. Asa manageryouneedtosee
performance acrossmultipleplatforms. However,youdonothave the time to lookat three dashboards
to see the statusand performance of the agents.Alsolookingatone reportdoesnot give youthe
combinedperformance metricsyouneed.

2. There isotherdata that may needtobe combinedinyourdashboard. InformationfromWFM,IVR,
CRM, Call Accountingor youroutbounddialerdatamayneedto be addedto youdashboard. Your
selectionof the critical KPI’sshouldall be onthe dashboardso at a glimpse youare aware of the call
centerstatusand performance.
Seniormanagementrequiresadashboardaswell butwitha differentlevelof data. These dashboards
combine internal financialdatatothe overall contactcentermetrics. The drill downtobusinesslevel
specificsisalsoneededbutnotavailable fromasingle source dashboard.
Drill Down
The manager dashboardneedstohave multiplelayersof content. The primarypage issummary
information. Itmightstartwithgrouplevel informationfrommultiple datasourcesandthenhave tabs
that can be clickedonthat goesintomore detail suchasspecificgroupwithagentinformation. Every
call centeris differentandmanagergoalsare unique. Sothe dashboardcontentshouldmeetthe
managerneedsandrequirements.
For example,startthe summarymainpage withoverall contactcenternumbers. Itmighthave voice,
email,chatand ticketingsystemdata. The secondtabcouldhave specificgroupdatafor voice showing
all of the agentperformance. The thirdtabcouldbe a combinationof email andchatdata per agentfor
each group. The dashboardcan be setto meetyourneedsandshow you contact performance bythe
agents. If your dashboardcannotcombine thisdata youwill be requiredtoopenthree dashboardsjust
to see the overall performancebygroupforvoice,email andchat. Thisisa tremendoustime consumer.
As a manageryoudecide whatdata iscritical to youand integrate thatdata intoyour dashboard. If you
are unable tocombine andcollaborate datayoushouldbeginlookingforanew dashboard.

3. Dynamic Dashboard
A dynamicdashboardisone that will allow youtodecide whatyourdashboardcontentwill be andnot
restrictedtothe applicationorplatformthatyou utilize today. A dynamicdashboardallowsyouto:
 Collectdifferentdatafrommultiple sources;
 Allowsyoutomove the data aroundin the dashboard.Rowsandcolumnsof data do not
remainfixed;
 Data formulasare not restricted. The formulascanchange as needed.
 Data in the dashboardisbasedon yourlogin. A differentmanagerloginwill have different
content.
An out-of-the-box,one size fitsall type dashboard doesnotallow youtocombine data,make
fundamental changestothe dashboardlayout,isstaticindesignandcontentcollaboration.
Visual Appearance
What ismore importanttoyou howgoodit looksor havingall of the contenton the dashboardthat you
need? Yourdashboardneedstomeetyourneedsandshouldbe able to dowhat yourequire. Maybe
your dashboardhasverylittle dataandthe critical contentisingraphs andcharts. Or maybe your
dashboardhas a lotof data and space wouldbe wastedhavingchartstake up real estate. The decision
reallyneedstobe yoursand notthe out-of-the-box application.
A textfilleddashboardwithagentspecificdata.

4. A general overview dashboardforseniormanagement,combinesdatafrommultiple sourcesbutdoes
not go downintodetailsthatthe contact centermanagermightneed. Secondarytabswouldallow
managementtosee financial details.
Easy Implementation
The dashboardneedstobe somethingthatiseasytoimplementandutilize. However,cautionis
neededhere becausesomethingthatistooeasymay notgive youthe featuresandbenefitsthatyouare
lookingforina dashboard.
Whenlookingatdashboards be sure to see how:
 Theyare installed;
 Data is selectedforthe report;
 Changescan be made to the dashboardlayout,if usinggraphsand charts;
 Messagesare createdand whotheycan be sentto;
 Remote accesscan be provided.
Whensearchingfordashboardsdonot be afraid togo outside of yourACD provider. Findingaproduct
that allowsfordata collaborationanddrill downcapabilitieswillhelpsave timeandimprove manager
and seniormanagementperformance. Neverbe satisfiedwithadashboardthathas restrictionsthatdo
not allowyoutosee the data you needtosee ona single report.

5. Spectrumisa leadingproviderof UnifiedContactCenterReporting. ContactSpectrumtoday todiscuss
bestpracticesfor call centerdashboards. Formore examplesof reportingvisitourwebsiteandthe
productspage. http://www.specorp.com/products
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Dan Boehm
VPSalesandMarketing
Spectrum
dboehm@specorp.com
+1 713 986 8839