Zendesk has acquired Tymeshift, a WFM provider that builds solutions exclusively for its platform.
Having previously received funding from Zendesk, Tymeshift has developed a solutions suite that covers the four cornerstones of WFM: forecasting, scheduling, intraday management, and review.
Noting this, Matt Price, Senior Vice President at Zendesk, stated:
Tymeshift has proven to be a comprehensive and intuitive WFM solution, enabling companies to streamline their scheduling, forecasting, and reporting, ultimately leading to better customer service.
Consider its forecasting capabilities. Tymeshift uses AI to automate the process while segmenting the expected traffic across various subject matters.
Not only does this save considerable time, but that segmentation allows WFM teams to take a more granular approach to workforce planning.
For instance, if they expect a flood of one contact type across a particular period, they can offer extra hours to team members who – according to QA data – are excellent at handling those contacts.
Automatic scheduling features within Tymeshift may also help here – taking all that forecasting and agent data to mechanize the process.
Other critical features include historical and real-time reporting, which allow planners to analyze particular staffing decisions and continually evolve WFM processes.
Excited to pull these capabilities into Zendesk, David Birchmier, former Tymeshift CEO and current Director of WFM Strategy at Zendesk, stated:
Having the right people on the right channels, at the right time, all based on real-time data, allowed us to provide immediate value to customers, and I’m looking forward to expanding our impact by officially joining Zendesk.
A press release suggests the expanded impact – which Birchmier references - will involve mixing Tymeshift’s predictive capabilities with Zendesk’s AI to “power the next generation of AI-assisted CX productivity.”
In doing so, the helpdesk leader may signal its intent to move deeper into the WFO market.
A First Step Into WFO
Considering how Zendesk may integrate Tymeshift into its existing portfolio is fascinating.
Indeed, alongside embedding the solution into its platform, the vendor could take Tymeshift’s WFM insights and factor those into its routing algorithms.
For example, consider an agent who has only a few minutes left on their shift. Tymeshift could communicate that to Zendesk’s routing system.
The routing engine may then send the agent a simple ticket.
With such capabilities, Zendesk may allow businesses to optimize breaks and schedule adherence.
That could be a significant contact center win, as the biggest driver of agent stress is: “It’s getting harder to take breaks when needed,” according to a 2023 CCMA study.
