Define Volume Indicators 
Use
The system uses volume indicators as a measure of activity, such as the amount customer traffic, the number of transactions, or the sales from the units sold. Volume indicators drive workload and can be defined with a granularity of quarter-hourly, half-hourly, hourly, daily or weekly. The granularity is how often values are available for use within the system. You use this procedure to define volume indicators.
Procedure
1. You access the transaction through either:
¡ The SAP Easy Access Menu, where you navigate to the transaction by choosing either path:
§ Industries ® Retail Multisite Workforce Deployment ® Forecast Settings ® Define Volume Indicators
§ Interaction Center ® Interaction Center Workforce Management ® Forecast Settings ® Define Volume Indicators
¡ The SAP Easy Access Menu, enter the transaction code CRM_WFM_SM.
You see the initial page for the site maintenance tool.
i. At Profile Type, display the selections and choose Work Area/Forecast / Parameters.
ii. At Sub-Type, display the selections and choose Volume Indicator.
iii. Choose Search.
iv. Click Volume Indicator, the topmost node of the tree, with the secondary mouse button and choose Create.
You see the Create New Parameter dialog box.
v. Enter a Profile ID, which is the name of the volume indicator definition the system displays in the tree view.
vi. Enter a date defining the first day for which the volume indicator definition is valid.
vii. Choose Continue.
2. You see the volume indicator definition page where at the Definition area you enter:
Field name |
Description |
Use / Notes |
External Key |
The unique identifier for the volume indicator that you entered at the Create New Parameter dialog box. |
Used when importing volume indicator data. |
Short Text |
Enter a short description of the volume indicator definition. |
The system uses this description in any displays and drop down lists identifying the volume indicator. For example, managers see this on the View/Modify Forecast page when running the system in the portal. |
Long Text |
Enter a long description of the volume indicator definition. |
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3. At the Effective Dates area, enter
Field name |
Description |
Use / Notes |
Start Date |
A beginning date for the volume indicator definition that you entered at the Create New Parameter dialog box. |
The system considers this volume indicator definition valid for the range defined by the start and end dates. The date entries must not overlap. |
End Date |
An end date for the volume indicator definition. |
If no end date is planned for this volume indicator group definition, enter 12/31/9999 to specify an open-ended validity range. |
4. At the Parameters area, enter
Field name |
Description |
Use / Notes |
Granularity |
The time granularity for volume data for this volume indicator. |
Choose: · Quarter-hourly · Half-hourly · Hourly · Daily · Weekly |
Edit/Display Characteristics |
Defines the edit/display characteristics of the volume indicator. |
Choose: · Hidden – Managers cannot view or change this task through the portal. · View-only – Managers can view this task data through the portal but cannot change any data. · Editable – Reserved for future use. |
5. At the Type Definition area, enter:
Field name |
Description |
Use / Notes |
Indicator Type |
The indicator type identifies how volume processing is performed for the indicator. |
Select from the drop down list: · Queued Volume · Response Rate Volume · AHT Volume · AWT Volume · ABND Volume · Standard Volume The following table provides definitions of the volume indicator types used in the system. |
WFD Volume Indicator Types
Type |
Definition |
Queued Volume |
Activity associated with a channel and queue and applicable service level goals. Forecasting applies the Erlang C algorithm to this indicator type. This data is normally acquired at the interval level (i.e., 15 or 30 minute intervals) for each day of the week. Typically channels such as transactions or customer volume data. |
Response Rate Volume |
Activity associated with channels that require a response in a specific period of time. Typically channels such as floor sales. For a response task, this volume should be in minutes. |
AHT Volume |
Average Handling Time (AHT) activity is the average time it takes an employee to provide the contact work (like registering a transaction) including after contact work. This data is normally acquired at the interval level (i.e., 15 or 30 minute intervals) for each day of the week. It should be configured if you want to use a variable AHT with a queue task (data volume should be in seconds) or a response task (data volumes should be in minutes). |
AWT Volume |
Represents average wait time in a sales channel. |
ABND Volume |
Activity associated with abandoned transactions. |
Standard Volume |
Activity associated with work performed based on a specific volume such as the number of items, transactions, sales revenue or customers processed. |
After you save your entries, you cannot change or edit the root org. node or the indicator type. The volume indicator type you select from the previous step determines the entries you make in the next step.
6. Enter the indicator settings detail. The information you enter for indicator settings differs slightly by the indicator type.
For indicator types Queued Volume, Response Volume and Standard Volume, these indicators will include either forecast settings or summed indicators, not both. Enter indicator settings by completing the following fields:
When defining Queued Volume, Response Volume and Standard Volume volume indicators
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1. At the Configuration Parameter tab, you choose from either Settings or Summed Indicator where you enter:
Field name |
Description |
Use / Notes |
Settings |
The forecast settings for this indicator, accessible only when you choose Settings. |
When active, define the forecast characteristics for the volume indicator: Include in Forecast – choose this field to include the volume indicator within the forecast, otherwise, the system expects volume indicator values to be entered (the system uses whatever values exist). Drop Hi/Lo Values – choose this field to specify that the system should not use the highest and lowest historical values when calculating workload for this volume indicator. |
Summed Indicator |
The summed indicators for this volume indicator are accessible only when you choose Summed Indicators. |
To add summed indicators for this volume indicator: ... 1. Scrolling to the summed indicator you want to add to the volume indicator from the Available Indicators for Summation list. 2. Highlighting the summed indicator. 3. Choosing Assign. 4. The system moves the summed indicator to the Assigned Indicators for Summation list. You can assign more than one summed indicator to the volume indicator. Repeat this step for as many related indicators as required. Remove an indicator from the indicator group by choosing it in the Assigned Indicators table, and clicking on the Unassign arrow. |
2. At the Related Indicators tab, add volume indicators that are related to this volume indicator by:
a. Scrolling to the summed indicator you want to add to the volume indicator from the Available Indicators for Summation list.
b. Highlighting the summed indicator.
c. Choosing Assign.
The system moves the summed indicator to the Assigned Indicators for Summation list. You can assign more than one summed indicator to the volume indicator.
Repeat this step for as many related indicators as required. Remove an indicator from the indicator group by choosing it in the Assigned Indicators table, and clicking on the Unassign arrow.
5. Save your entries.
When defining AHT Volume, AWT Volume ABND Volume and volume indicators
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1. At Settings, choose Include in Forecast to include the volume indicator within the forecast, otherwise, the system expects volume indicator values to be entered (the system uses whatever values exist).
2. Choose Drop Hi/Lo Values to specify that the system should not use the highest and lowest historical values when calculating workload for this volume indicator.
3. Save your entries.
Result
You have defined the volume indicator and can assign it to your location. For more information, see Assign Parameter Settings to Locations.