Staffing Optimization Tools for a 24 x 7 Telecommunications Control Center Environment

Abstract

This research explored optimization techniques to assist in personnel scheduling in a telecommunications environment. A survey of personnel was conducted to help determine basic employee priorities and two models were implemented in Microsoft Excel Solver to assist in providing data to support employee scheduling. The first model is linear and, given the number of people required during each hour of the week, determines the optimal number of personnel that should be working each of the available shift types, with an objective of minimizing cost. This tool includes the option to include or exclude particular shifts depending on employee and management preference. This model is found to be a useful tool in learning about the cost implications of various shifts and is suitable for assisting in shift scheduling. The second model designed is nonlinear and minimizes variance in the hourly utilization rate of personnel. Given a fixed number of people, the model seeks to determine the optimal number of personnel that should be working each of the available shift types, with an objective of balancing capacity to demand across each hour of the week. Microsoft Excel Solver is found to be insufficient in handling the number of constraints in this nonlinear model. Implementation of this methodology within a more powerful software package is suggested for future research.