January 29, 2009 08:00 ET

Workforce Management Market Grows by 7.4 Percent Despite Global Recession

DMG Consulting Estimates Workforce Management Can Trim Contact Center Costs by 10-20% Without Affecting Service Levels or Customer Experience

WEST ORANGE, NJ--(Marketwire - January 29, 2009) - DMG Consulting LLC, a leading provider of contact center and real-time analytics market research and consulting services, today published the 2009 Contact Center Workforce Management Market Report, the industry's most comprehensive guide to the essential and evolving contact center workforce management (WFM) market, products and vendors.

2008 was a good year for the Workforce Management (WFM) market. The number of WFM seats/agents grew by a healthy 7.4%, from 3,463,571 agent/seats in 2007 to 3,719,294 in 2008. Although growth was universal among all vendors covered, the most rapid growth rates were realized among the smaller vendors and those with stand-alone solutions. DMG forecasts WFM sales to increase by 6% in 2009, 7% in 2010 and 9% in 2011, the first full year of economic recovery.

Growth in the WFM market is being fueled by customer-driven innovation and the evolution of WFM solutions to meet the changing needs of contact centers. Vendors are developing and enhancing their solutions to address the needs of complex multi-site, multi-channel (phone, email, IM/Chat, fax, mail, etc.) and multi-skill contact center environments. They are also introducing WFM modules that deliver enterprise-wide efficiencies for non-contact center uses (back-office, retail, branches, etc.).

"The requirement to provide a better customer experience while improving productivity and controlling costs is paramount in contact centers during the recession," said Donna Fluss, president of DMG Consulting. "Workforce management continues to be one of the most important contact center productivity tools. By optimizing the use of the new generation of WFM solutions, contact centers can reduce staff related costs by 10-20%, enabling them to come through the recession with minimum impact on service levels and the customer experience."

The 2009 Report includes new sections on management and agent best practices, as well as a section dedicated to long-term strategic planning, an area of growing importance to contact center managers and enterprise executives. The report also gives advice on how to use WFM to help address challenges presented by the recession and to strategically plan for business recovery in 2011.

The 2009 Workforce Management Market Report provides an in-depth analysis of the WFM market, including vendors, product functionality, technology, market trends, challenges and opportunities, market share, adoption rates, benefits, return on investment (ROI), best practices, customer satisfaction, pricing and additional uses for WFM solutions. The information in this report will gives end users an understanding of the contact center WFM market, the knowledge to select the right solution and the best practices for a successful implementation.

The 2009 Report presents a detailed review of nine leading WFM vendors, including: Aspect, Calabrio, Inc., Genesys, GMT, IEX (a NICE Company), inContact (formerly UCN), InVision Software AG (InVision), Pipkins and Verint Systems, Inc. (Verint). The report also includes a WFM Vendor Directory listing 30 vendors who offer contact center WFM solutions.

To learn more about the 2009 Contact Center Workforce Management Market Report or to order a copy, go to www.dmgconsult.com, or contact Deborah Navarra at 516-628-1098 or deborah.navarra@dmgconsult.com.

About DMG Consulting LLC

DMG Consulting LLC is an advisory and consulting firm specializing in contact centers and real-time analytics. We are a strategic advisor to end users and vendors, large and small, and the financial community. Our mission is to help our clients build world-class contact centers by leveraging technology, process and people. We assist management in optimizing the performance of their contact centers by increasing operational efficiency, providing an outstanding customer experience, enhancing loyalty and increasing sales and profits. We also help vendors develop products and services that deliver differentiated innovation and benefits that meet end users' current and future needs.

DMG Consulting is the leading provider of industry research for many segments of the contact center market, including: Quality Management/Liability Recording, Speech Analytics, Performance Management, Surveying/Feedback, Workforce Management, Contact Center Outsourcing, Hosted Contact Center Infrastructure Solutions and Interactive Voice Response Systems.

Our consulting experience with more than 2000 end-user organizations and our hands-on operational, technology and financial expertise give us deep insight into what customers want and need from enterprises and vendors.