WFM Training Simulator

A browser-based workforce management training tool for lean contact center teams.

The simulator helps supervisors and WFM analysts practice a core operating skill: do not chase short-term noise; read the demand trend, decide early, and execute with discipline.

It models a 9-hour contact center day with changing demand, staffing lead time, service-level targets, occupancy pressure, and the operational consequences of overreacting to every dashboard movement.

Live Demo

Open the simulator here:

https://kaoru-ota.github.io/cc-wfm-simulator/

No sign-up or installation is required.

Need a Hint?

If you do not reach the training objective after a few attempts, review the winning strategy walkthrough and compare it with your own decisions.

What It Teaches

Small teams behave differently from large floors. When each agent represents a visible share of capacity, ordinary random variation can look like a signal worth acting on.

This simulator is designed to help learners experience the difference between:

• Reactive management — changing staffing whenever service level, queue, or occupancy moves
• Strategic management — using the forecast and the broader demand pattern to decide ahead of pressure, then avoiding unnecessary reversals

The main lesson is simple:

In lean teams, good WFM is less about reacting faster to every metric change and more about recognizing the underlying pattern, deciding before the pressure arrives, and executing with discipline.

Features

• 9-hour simulated operating day
• Demand phases including opening, lunch rotation, afternoon dip, evening surge, and closing
• Staffing controls with add / reduce decisions
• 10-minute staffing lead time
• Erlang C and Erlang X+ forecast views
• Service level and occupancy targets
• AHT penalties when occupancy moves outside the target range
• Redial behavior for abandoned contacts
• Batch lunches and breaks to model simultaneous off-phone time
• Browser-only implementation with no external runtime dependencies

Training Use Case

The simulator can be used in a short workshop for new supervisors or WFM analysts:

1. Run reactively without relying on the forecast
   Experience how repeated short-term adjustments can destabilize a small team.
2. Run strategically using the forecast and expected demand pattern
   Compare the result against the reactive run.
3. Debrief the difference
   Discuss where the real operation is reacting to noise rather than managing the underlying trend.

The tool is especially useful for conversations about:

• signal vs. noise in real-time metrics
• staffing lead time
• phase-aware decision-making
• service level vs. occupancy trade-offs
• the operating habits required in smaller, higher-skill teams

How to Run Locally

This project is a standalone HTML application.

1. Clone the repository
2. Open index.html in a browser

No build step is required.

Project Structure

.
├── index.html          # Main standalone simulator
└── src/
    └── erlang.js       # Erlang-related reference implementation only

Technical Notes

• Front end: HTML, CSS, and vanilla JavaScript
• Simulation loop: requestAnimationFrame
• Queueing models: Erlang C and Erlang X+
• Forecasting logic and simulation behavior are implemented client-side in index.html
• index.html is self-contained for GitHub Pages deployment; it does not load src/erlang.js at runtime

Status

This project is currently maintained as an educational tool and article companion for contact center WFM training.

Author

Kaoru Ota
Contact center operations and analytics professional with experience across both small specialist teams and large multi-site environments.