National telehealth provider saves $10 million in labor costs and reduces AHT by 35%

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In this case study discover how efficient WFM project management and additional labour support achieved:

A 35% reduction in average handling times across four major contact queues.
Labour cost savings of up to $10 million as a result of a more efficient workforce due to correct agent allocation.

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THE CLIENT

Whakarongorau Aotearoa (WA) provides free 24/7 telehealth services across voice, email and SMS channels to the New Zealand public on behalf of the Ministry of Health. With both clinical teams offering consultations and non-clinical teams handling inquiries, ensuring an exceptional experience for customers and staff is critical.

THE CHALLENGE

During an unexpected surge in demand, WA was tasked with rapidly scaling operations to establish additional high-volume contact queues. Thousands of new staff were onboarded from multiple sub-contracted partners to service these queues, severely straining WA's existing workforce management (WFM) capacity.

This abrupt expansion negatively impacted customer experience with increased wait times and longer handling times. It also took a toll on employee experience, with scheduling challenges, insufficient training and a lack of support for the newly onboarded staff.

WA's lean WFM team lacked the bandwidth to effectively manage the expanded workforce, forecast demand, create schedules and ensure staffing levels matched fluctuating volumes across queues. They required an agile workforce partner to provide interim project management, planning and supplemental labor to maintain service levels during this critical period.

THE SOLUTION

WA engaged Probe CX to build and rapidly implement a tailored capacity plan laser-focused on elevating the customer and employee experience. Within just two weeks, Probe CX recruited and deployed a dedicated ‘WFM Hub’ - a team of highly skilled workforce experts from New Zealand and the Philippines.

The cross-functional hub team consisted of seven Probe CX employees providing comprehensive WFM support, including a program manager, team leader, real-time analyst, planners and schedulers. Their primary goal was to bring clarity and responsiveness to staffing during the turbulent high-demand period.

Stakeholders turned to the hub as a responsive workforce management partner, handling numerous projects seamlessly. The approachable team applied deep WFM expertise to efficiently deliver smart solutions tailored to WA's needs.

In addition to the WFM Hub, Probe CX created robust production plans that accurately forecasted staffing requirements for both clinical telehealth consultations and non-clinical inquiry queues based on demand trends. During peak periods, over 650 additional Probe CX staff seamlessly integrated with WA's frontline operations to provide supplemental support.