Frequently asked questions

Check timestamps, interval length, queue and segment labels, contact volumes and AHT units. Tell missing data apart from genuinely quiet periods with zero contacts. Review the mapping and validation results on Your data before you move on, especially if you have combined reports that were produced in different ways.

Average handling time should cover the whole time an agent spends on a contact: talk or chat time, hold time and the after-contact work (wrap-up) that follows. Check whether your system reports it in seconds or minutes and choose the matching unit when you map the AHT column. If your file has no AHT column, set it for each queue with Edit targets in the queue table (Your data → Queues in your file, or Staffing → Service targets).

No. Mapping suggestions recognise likely column names. They cannot confirm your reporting definitions, units or permission to use the data. Check the suggested mapping, rejected values and totals before confirming the review.

Yes, as a file. Download the sheet as Excel (.xlsx) or CSV, then upload that file. There is no live Google Sheets connection, and you do not need to publish a confidential sheet to import it.

It depends on the number of columns and the length of values: roughly 260,000 rows at 100 bytes per row, 105,000 at 250 bytes or 52,000 at 500 bytes. These are estimates, not allowances. Each sheet is also limited to 100,000 rows and 256 columns, and a workbook to 20 sheets and 1,000,000 cells. Delete unused formatted rows and columns before uploading.

Compare methods on the same queues, periods and historical test periods. WAPE shows error as a percentage of volume; MAE and RMSE show it in contacts; bias shows whether a method tends to forecast too high or too low. Lower error in the past does not guarantee a better forecast in future. Methods and accuracy on the Forecast step shows the comparison.

No. Treat them as planning sensitivities based on past forecast error, not a promise that a set share of future outcomes will fall between them. Use them to see how staffing changes if demand comes in lower or higher.

Yes, at any level of detail. The interval forecast on the Forecast step starts from the split in your history and lets you adjust the share for each weekday and each interval, by queue. Use it when you expect the pattern to change, for example new opening hours.

In the project you are working on, in your browser. To keep them, use Save private project, which downloads a project file to your computer (LoughPoint does not store it), and reopen it later with Open project. Excel and report exports are outputs: they do not reopen as an editable project. See “What happens to my work when I close the browser?” under Your data and privacy.

Concurrency is how many chats one agent handles at the same time, on average. LoughPoint divides chat workload by it, so moving from 1 to 2 can cut chat staffing sharply: on the Mixed channels sample it moves the plan from about 108 to about 94 FTE. Use what your agents actually achieve on average, not the maximum your chat system allows; a setting that is too high will understaff you. LoughPoint starts every chat queue at 1. Change it in the Chats at once column of the queue table, in Your data → Queues in your file or Staffing → Service targets; Staffing also shows what is assumed. Voice, email and back-office work always use 1.

“You need about X FTE” is the average weekly requirement across the whole forecast period. Adding quieter or busier weeks changes that average, even if nothing else changes. The busiest week is shown beside it. Compare plans over the same forecast length; change it on the Forecast step.

Check demand, AHT, chat concurrency, service targets, planned occupancy or occupancy cap, shrinkage, paid weekly hours and the forecast length. More work, less productive time, a tighter target or a lower concurrency all raise the requirement. Splitting work between dedicated teams or locations usually needs more people than one shared team.

Paid time when agents cannot handle work: annual leave, sickness, training, meetings, coaching and, by default, breaks. Leave out unpaid lunch, because it is not paid time. If you schedule breaks explicitly on the Schedule step, take them out of shrinkage so they are not counted twice; LoughPoint asks you to confirm this.

For phone and chat, “Size phone and chat staffing by” offers two methods. Service target (Erlang C) sizes each interval to answer a set share of contacts within your threshold, for example 80% in 30 seconds; the occupancy cap stops it planning agents busier than you allow. Planned occupancy sizes to a flat busy level instead, for example 75%, which is simpler but ignores waiting times. Use the service target if you have one; use planned occupancy if you plan to a productivity level. Set either per queue with Edit targets in the queue table (Your data → Queues in your file, or Staffing → Service targets). Erlang C needs interval data (15-minute, 30-minute or hourly); daily, weekly and monthly forecasts are sized on workload and occupancy instead.

They are deadline targets, such as 100% within 24 hours or 2 days, not answer times. Work can wait, so LoughPoint sizes the team to clear the work within the deadline, and work that arrives outside working hours waits as backlog until the team starts. There is no ASA, abandonment or interval service level for this work.

That is the Employee scope choice on Staffing. Skilled on all tasks treats your phone and chat queues as one team, so quiet moments on one queue are used on another and you usually need fewer people. Dedicated to individual tasks staffs each queue on its own, which is more realistic if agents can only take certain work. With interval data, Staffing shows the choice and, where it makes a difference, the FTE the other choice would need.

A workload-to-capacity figure can go above 100% when demand is greater than the handling time available. It can also point to inconsistent inputs: check AHT units, interval length, current staffing, shrinkage, chat concurrency and the queue and segment selected. For back-office work, the excess becomes backlog; it does not mean people sustainably worked above 100%.

No. Occupancy is handling time as a share of the time agents are available for work. Utilisation depends on how it is defined, often as a share of paid time. Shrinkage is paid time when agents are not available for work. Check what each figure is divided by before comparing them.

No. Results depend on your data and the planning assumptions. Phone and chat are sized interval by interval, while email and back-office work are sized to clear within a deadline. Daily or monthly data cannot show what happens in every interval. Check the plan against your actual performance and a workable shift schedule.

Current staffing is the capacity you enter on Staffing (or for each location). Required FTE is calculated from demand and your planning assumptions. Entering 100 current FTE does not bring a 120-FTE requirement down to 100; it shows a 20-FTE shortfall.

Leave current staffing blank if you do not know it, and LoughPoint will not compare it with the requirement. Enter 0 only if you really have no staff available: LoughPoint treats it as a real figure and will show the whole requirement as a shortfall.

No. FTE measures paid hours as full-time equivalents. Two colleagues on 20 hours each equal 1 FTE when a full-time week is 40 hours, but headcount is 2. Required FTE already includes your shrinkage allowance.

The cost of the requirement follows the calculated FTE and your cost per FTE. The cost of your current team follows the staffing you enter and any dated changes, such as new starters. Recommendations work within your staffing; they cannot create extra people. A surplus overall can still leave gaps at certain times or on certain queues.

When a queue is shared between your own team (in-house) and an outsourcer, or between locations, the split decides who handles which share of the contacts. Below 100% leaves work with nobody; above 100% counts it twice. Each team is then staffed for its own share.

It is a planning estimate based on the required FTE and the costs you enter: cost per FTE or hourly rate, and any outsourcer rates or minimum charges. It does not automatically include every payroll item, such as employer taxes, overtime or supplier fees, unless your cost per FTE already does.

Required FTE assumes staff could be placed exactly where demand falls. Real shifts have fixed lengths, start times, days and breaks, so some intervals end up over-covered and others short. Opening hours, the number of shift options and the staffing budget also limit what fits. The Schedule step shows the gaps by interval; try more shift options, different shift lengths or start times, or a larger budget.

A percentage change divides the difference by the baseline. If the baseline is zero, there is no percentage. Use the FTE or cost difference instead.

Exports use the queues, segment, history range, forecast settings, scenarios and saved shift plan that are active when you export. Check the scope shown on screen and in the exported file before sharing it. Sample data is simulated and is for trying LoughPoint only.

Choose Presentation at the top of the workspace, then Executive overview. It selects a short set of sections: cover and scope, actual demand, forecast, locations and supply, demand versus supply, and scenarios. Add or remove sections before you download; method notes go in the speaker notes.

Your computer may have linked the project file type to a different app, such as a text editor. You do not need that app: open the file from LoughPoint with Open project. Use the Excel exports when you want to review results in Excel or Google Sheets.

You can try every planning step with the built-in sample data. Uploading your own files and opening saved projects need early access or a Pro plan; see Pricing for details. Pricing is per planner, not per agent.

Use the information icon beside a figure for a quick definition, the Metric glossary for terms, and the Calculators for formulas and worked examples. Methodology explains how the models work and their limits.

Use Help & feedback and include the page, the queues and filters selected, the relevant settings, what you expected and what you saw. Do not send confidential data or passwords. An example with made-up values that shows the same result is the most useful.

Your planning data (uploaded files, forecasts, staffing plans and schedules) is worked on in your web browser on your own computer. The planning workspace has no route that uploads your planning file to our servers. Your account details are stored in the European Union, and sign-in is provided from Ireland. The full breakdown is at the top of this page.

No. The planning workspace reads your file in your browser; it has no route that uploads your planning file to LoughPoint’s servers, so we do not receive your datasets or results. If you contact support, please describe the issue or use summary figures rather than sending your files.

No. The planning workspace does not send your planning data to us, so we do not use it for training or share it. We do not sell personal information, and the site has no advertising or analytics trackers.

You do not need to. LoughPoint works from summary figures such as contact volumes, handle times and staffing hours. Leaving out names keeps your files simpler to share and reduces risk if a download is passed around.

Planning work is held in your browser while the page is open. To keep it, use Save private project to download a project file to your computer, or Save to Excel, or switch on the optional recovery copy for this device. LoughPoint does not keep a cloud backup of your planning data.

Planning data disappears when you close the page, clear the recovery copy or clear your browser data. Files you downloaded are yours to delete. To delete your account details and support history sooner than our automatic deletion, email legal@loughpoint.com.

Usually not for planning work, because the planning workspace processes your planning data in your own browser and does not upload it to us. We are responsible for the account and support information we hold, as described in our Privacy Policy. If your organisation needs a security or data protection questionnaire completed, email legal@loughpoint.com.