Yes. Your data is saved and stored from one visit to the next as long as you have asked the system to save it. Your data and customized Tool Kit information will be there for you as long as you are registered and an active member of APCO International. Data in the staffing tool remains in place until you change it or clear a field. To be on the safe side, however, it is a good idea to print the screens as you complete them or copy and paste the information into a file that can be saved on your computer. The data used to generate the PDF report for the Employee Satisfaction Survey is deleted when you set up a new survey, but you can save previous reports as PDF files on your computer. The Retention Report should be copied and saved as an electronic or print file. The years are changed automatically on January 1, so you will always have the five most recent years of data.

The EPG can be found under the Resources tab. It is a 119 page document that should be read BEFORE beginning use of the Tool Kit. The staffing workbook is the second part of the EPG or can be downloaded separately. The Research Survey, Research Report and Technical report are also on this same page. The documents are in PDF format.

Yes, as long as you are not both working on the same form at the same time. The current version of the Tool Kit allows only one user login to be registered per email address. A manager can log in at more than one station at the same time, or share the email address and password with employees who are working with different tools or different forms. More than one person per center can register and use the tools, but if you want to control access to the reports (staffing analyses, employee satisfaction results, retention report), you will need to make sure that nobody has your password. If several people are working on different forms in one tool, or on different tools, all of the data that is saved will go into one tool kit. You can change the password at any time to restrict further access by employees if desired (go to the Agency Info tab to edit or change your password). If more than one employee is registered to use the Tool Kit, the data will NOT be consolidated. These are separate profiles.

As long as you are registered or until you clear the worksheets of old data. It is best to copy and save the reports to your own computer. The retention report and staffing summary are not saved in PDF format so pages should be copied and saved as electronic or print documents.

No problem. If all employees handle all calls from pick-up to completion/dispatch, you will need to decide whether to use the coverage calculation or the volume-influenced calculation. If the center can handle the workload with minimal staffing on all shifts, use a coverage calculation to estimate staffing needs. The combined call taker/dispatcher position is a volume influenced positions if staffing levels need to be increased to handle increased phone activity during the afternoon or evening shift, or if the number of call taker/dispatchers needs to be increased to handle consistent and predictable increases (e.g. weekends).

It is important to distinguish between people and positions. The position is the job or assignment or task. The call taking task is the same for an employee that is cross-trained, brand new, or at the third level on the salary scale. Start with the easiest positions to classify. See the Glossary or the Staffing Workbook for additional examples. Function positions: The number of positions available does not depend on the level of activity or the time of day. The positions of Manager or Training Coordinator are typically function positions. Most call centers have just one manager or director (the title varies, so customize the tool accordingly). The manager is there when the manager is there; authority may be delegated but there is still only one manager serving that function for the center. Coverage positions: The position must be “covered” regardless of the number of incoming calls or dispatch activity. The coverage may refer to a particular task or a specific console that must be covered for a given length of time, usually continuous service 24/7/365. A center that can handle the workload with minimal staffing on all shifts should use a coverage calculation to estimate staffing needs. If a center staffs a fire or police dispatch console around the clock regardless of the amount of call activity, it is a “coverage” position. Specific dispatch positions such as fire, police or emergency medical dispatch and shift supervisor are typical coverage positions. If your center increases staffing during high volume shifts, but consistently “covers” the same period of time each day, treat it as a fraction of a coverage position. For example, if you have three dispatcher positions that are filled 24 hours a day and an additional 12 hour shift each day to cover the busy periods, there are 3.5 positions that need to be covered. Volume-influenced positions: The number of employees that fill these positions is dependent on the overall activity level in the center, and the number of individuals scheduled to handle the workload on any given shift is determined by the workload. Analysis of historic call volume data and/or experience with daily and weekly patterns of call activity are used to determine staffing needs and inform scheduling decisions. The combined call taker/dispatcher position is a volume influenced positions if staffing levels need to be increased to handle increased phone activity during the afternoon or evening shift, or if the number of call taker/dispatchers needs to be increased to handle consistent and predictable increases (e.g. weekends). Situations where staffing needs to be increased to handle a special event such as a game or the 4th of July are typically handled with overtime and might be considered “volume-influenced scheduling” but not volume influenced staffing.

The answer to this question depends on the page you are using. The Total Call Volume (TCV) for the center may be different than the total call volume for a specific position. In determining staffing for volume-influenced positions, the call volume should reflect all call activity handled by the position being analyzed. For example if you are estimating staffing for a call taker position, and the call taker answers and directs incoming calls, use the total number of incoming calls. If the call taker is also responsible for handling lateral/transfer calls, call backs or outgoing calls to service providers, those calls should be included in the total count. All calls should be counted, even those that are for the same incident (e.g., If an incoming call is about a traffic accident that has already been forwarded to dispatch, that call should be counted even though it may not be entered in the CAD system). In centers where a call taker/dispatcher handles incoming calls and dispatch, consider adding the number of dispatch events to the total telephone call volume as a means of including radio activity. Call volume is a count of the number of telephone calls or dispatches, it is not a measure of the amount of time involved (note that we suggest using the number of times a field unit is dispatched, not the number of times a dispatcher uses the push-to-talk button). In centers that handle the call taking and dispatch assignments separately, dispatch assignments are not typically “volume-influenced” positions. They are more likely to be “coverage” positions.

Yes, the calculation for coverage positions allows you to make an adjustment for partial positions. A part time employee can be accounted for as .5. Two PT employees can equal one FT or you can split up a position in percentages. For an explanation and examples, refer to the Staffing Workbook.

Some centers have a strict division of labor and incoming calls are only handled by designated agents. In most call centers, however, call responsibilities are widely shared and calls are routed to any available agent. Set up the staffing estimator based on the division of labor in your center. If the distinction from one position to another is frequently blurred, it makes sense to treat all call takers as a single position. It ultimately depends upon the dynamic of the center and if the information can be justified. For more details and examples, refer to the Staffing Workbook.

While there is no standard, APCO Project RETAINS is conducting a next generation study on the dispatcher position to define and help estimate the an appropriate staffing level and ratio for this position.

Employees must access the survey on the internet. When you are provided access to the Tool Kit, you are provided two URLs. The second is for the Employees to access the survey.

It may be that they waited until the last minute. Employees will not be able to submit a response after the close of the data collection period. Data collection is set to end at midnight on the day you selected as an end date. You can extend data collection up to two weeks to accommodate late responders.