Dan Smitley is a WFM Guru - You may have seen him posting Will Ferrell gifs on LinkedIn every Friday, but for this episode he joins Calabrio to talk about AI in WFM and how we might get real-world, practical uses out of AI and what that means to the average user. Topics include how WFM can benefit from AI, especially in the "Art vs. Science" front, and what we as humans need from AI assistants. Want to be a guest on the Calabrio podcast? Send us an email! dave.hoekstra@calabrio.com...
Aug 11, 2025•54 min•Season 5Ep. 7
Ericc Whetstone joins the pod to talk about the importance of understanding what APIs can do for your contact center, use cases of great API development, and how important it is to have the skill set of API development available to a contact center staff. APIs are no longer just for the IT department. The more you understand how an API can be used, the more productivity savings and budget relief will be available to you.
Jun 02, 2025•40 min•Season 5Ep. 6
Spend a little time with the Amazon Web Services team as we talk about the future of reporting, especially around AI. How will AI help us find data faster? Listen and find out!
Feb 07, 2025•22 min•Season 5Ep. 4
Working Smarter is joined by Martin Teasdale, the founder of Get out of Wrap, a UK-based podcast and consulting firm that specializes in contact centers...or is that centres? Martin talks about his career, the challenges of finding a vendor, and the Calabrio "Voice of the Agent" survey results that were recently published.
Dec 17, 2024•55 min•Season 5Ep. 5
Irina Hollatz stops by the podcast to explain what RightWFM does, and why it is important to challenge the norm. The discussions also leans towards how software development takes place, and how Calabrio approaches the multiple demands of creating dynamic software that people actually want to use.
Oct 14, 2024•47 min•Season 5Ep. 3
Klaus Bang, otherwise known as the Danish WFM Ninja, shares his thoughts on a long career in WFM, his approach to determining a Service Level target, and how he used Calabrio WFM to consolidate several contact center practices into one.
May 22, 2024•33 min•Season 5Ep. 2
Virtual Agents, Chatbots, Bots...whatever you call them, they need love too. Calabrio is excited to welcome Wysdom into the portfolio to help customers of any size make their bots better. How does it work? What kind of KPI can be delivered on your virtual agents? Join Tariq from Wysdom as we understand how conversational AI assists in making your virtual and human agents better at servicing your customers.
Feb 05, 2024•34 min•Season 5Ep. 1
Have you ever wanted to enable agent self-scheduling, but are afraid of the process? Never fear, Precious Bucher from Zappos is here. Precious covers in detail Zappos' agent scheduling process and how they have significantly reduced attrition in doing so. Spend some time as Precious also recounts her career and how she came to lead the scheduling team at Zappos.
Oct 04, 2023•37 min•Season 4Ep. 7
Bryce Ackerman from Roche Diagnostics joins Dave to discuss the role of WFM in CX, some of the biggest myths about WFM and how important honesty and transparency are when dealing with the workforce. Bryce shares some history of his journey in WFM and some of the life lessons he has learned along the way.
Aug 07, 2023•48 min•Season 4Ep. 8
Trent Ryan from Netflix joins the podcast to discuss how he got into WFM, what processes Netflix does well, and what he has learned over the years as the "key" to a sucessful WFM professional. Fresh off his nomination to SWPP's Workforce Management Professional of the Year, Trent gives great insight into how running the WFM practice for one of the most successful digital companies in the world.
Jun 26, 2023•32 min•Season 4Ep. 6
Join our discussion with Daniel Acosta, a healthcare workforce management expert, in an eye-opening journey through the world of Workforce Engagement Management (WEM) in healthcare. In this thought-provoking podcast, Daniel shares his expertise and insights on optimizing patient access centers, revolutionizing call menu strategies, and leveraging data-driven decision-making to improve patient outcomes. Discover how WEM can transform your organization, expand your limits, and redefine the impact ...
May 31, 2023•34 min•Season 4Ep. 5
With years of combined experience in WFM Management, this panel of experts dispenses wisdom and expertise on what to pay attention to when building a WFM team. Questions answered, amongst others, are: What is the proper ratio of WFM staff to agents? How does someone get into WFM and succeed? How to prep for a WFM interview and what pitfalls to watch out for? How to have tough conversations with operations staff? How to deal with the pain of change? and, most importantly, How do I get promoted in...
May 03, 2023•33 min•Season 4Ep. 4
What is the difference between Customer Service, Customer Experience and Customer Success? Join Chris Warticki, VP of Customer Experience at Epicor as we discuss how organizations can differentiate their customer service from their customer experience and truly impact the customer journey.
Mar 07, 2023•34 min•Season 4Ep. 3
There are so many different technologies out there that are designed to make the CX process better for you and your customers. But, before you invest in another technology that will make your lives easier, shouldn't you take a moment to evaluate what you currently have and how it can be improved? Sometimes going back to the basics can yield better results than making another move. Join Jim Davies, CXO at Calabrio as he leverages his vast experience in the contact center industry to guide you thr...
Jan 31, 2023•34 min•Season 4Ep. 2
Join Dave and Kyle Smaagard for a discussion of what machine learning and artificial intelligence are, and how it could possibly impact contac center operations going forward. How can AI&ML help CX organizations be better at their jobs? Listen on to find out!
Jan 09, 2023•39 min•Season 4Ep. 1
Transforming your contact center starts with strengthening your frontline team. But how do you close information gaps and make your agents care? It starts with seeking out those empathetic qualities in contact center candidates. Leaders need to ensure their team understands the brand promise and how to protect it. In this episode, CX expert, Nate Brown, uncovers the best ways to instill a customer-centric mindset in your team.
Dec 14, 2022•42 min•Season 3Ep. 18
Contact centers use advanced technology like AI and machine learning—not to replace human interactions, but to enhance them. Dave is joined by Amazon Web Services’ Shalima Bhalla to discuss how Calabrio, AWS, and Amazon Connect work together to improve the agent experience. The result? Easier, more efficient, and more enjoyable contact center experiences for everyone.
Dec 01, 2022•35 min•Season 3Ep. 17
Calabrio recently released a report on the State of the Contact Center, where we surveyed 250 consumers and contact center managers to understand where the contact center sits in their minds and ours. Listen in as Dave and Shep discuss some of the key insights revealed and some things your contact center can do to close the gap.
Nov 02, 2022•22 min•Season 3Ep. 16
Calabrio recently released a report on the State of the Contact Center, where we surveyed 250 consumers and contact center managers to understand where the contact center sits in their minds and ours. Listen in as Dave and Shep discuss some of the key insights revealed and some things your contact center can do to close the gap.
Oct 25, 2022•17 min•Season 3Ep. 16
Dave Hoekstra is joined by Kathy Sobus of ConvergeOne to discuss how employee engagement can help create Brand Guardians for your contact center, quiet quitting, and the statistics presented in the latest State of the Contact Center report released by Calabrio. Be sure to read the blog from Kathy and Calabrio at https://www.calabrio.com/wfo/workforce-management/how-to-create-support-brand-guardians-in-your-contact-center/
Oct 18, 2022•35 min•Season 3Ep. 15
How is music from David Bowie, Steely Dan and the Who related to the contact center? Find out by joining Dave Hoekstra and Zack Taylor from Cisco to learn how the contact center overcomes current challenges they face in the contact center.
Oct 03, 2022•42 min•Season 3Ep. 14
Ashley is a major reason that Alliant Energy has paved the way in the US using preference-based scheduling with Calabrio WFM. Listen to hear about their implementation process, agent feedback and challenges they have overcome to ultimately decrease attrition and maintain agent wellbeing!
Aug 08, 2022•29 min•Season 3Ep. 13
Juanita Coley has had a long and productive career in call centers and workforce management, and we are here to talk about it all! Listen to find out her "why" in what she does, how she empowers herself and others to succeed, and in general has a lot of fun doing it. With her extensive experience in workforce management, Juanita and Dave definitely have a conversation for the ages!
Jun 21, 2022•33 min•Season 3Ep. 12
Dave speaks to Sandrine Asseraf, Group Managing Director of Webhelp, about how reimagining CX goes beyond just a few quick changes. The pandemic forced us all to think about CX differently, so how does a huge organization like Webhelp go about keeping their clients happy while moving thousands of agents home? The answer is Webhelp Anywhere, a philosophy that takes the holistic customer into account. Join us for a discussion on the results of Webhelp's CX survey, with some surprising results!...
May 18, 2022•34 min•Season 3Ep. 11
Dave talks to Tim Wittenburg and Craig Zweyber from Calabrio about how to ensure data security is always given the proper respect. Tim and Craig discuss simple best practices to secure data, avoid breaches, and how Calabrio strives to keep our customer's data secure.
Apr 11, 2022•31 min•Season 3Ep. 10
Join Dave Hoekstra, Product Evangelist at Calabrio as he talks to Kunal Rahalkar, Founder and CEO of Datagamz about how employee engagement can dramatically impact overall CX. Topics include "How to find the best agent", how to incorporate performance testing vs. Performance Management, and and engaging discussion about how different regions of the world refer to the names of fruit.
Feb 17, 2022•43 min•Season 3Ep. 9
Technology is not always the answer, so we should be focusing more on the people instead of the tech. Join us for an engaging discussion around our spend in technology solutions, and why CX should always be about the people and not the money. Take a different perspective on your organization's customer journey with Calabrio and Clare!
Jan 18, 2022•34 min•Season 3Ep. 8
Does your organization understand PCI compliance? Are you PCI compliant? Join Dave and Darren Gill of PCI Pal as they discuss what PCI means, how to be PCI compliant, and what potential liability your organization may have if you aren't meeting the PCI standards.
Nov 29, 2021•30 min•Season 3Ep. 7
Welcome to Calabrio's Working Smarter Podcast!
Nov 10, 2021•33 sec
Rapid, transformative change swept the contact center over the last two years. Our State of the Contact Center Reports from 2020 and 2021 chronicled the shifts we’re all familiar with by now: the acceleration of flexible work models and cloud-powered operations, along with the overall surging investment in technologies that enable the agility to respond to whatever comes next. But, what about the agent’s point of view? With the “Great Resignation” (or “Great Reshuffling,” depending on how you lo...
Oct 11, 2021•16 min•Season 3Ep. 6
