Mental block-General Design Question

[JeRz653]

Hi All,

I am by no means an expert with Access but I have learned a lot recently with using it and haven't taken a formal class on it since Access 2000. That said, I created a database recently for myself and a colleague which drew the attention of my boss and sure enough, I was asked to create another one. I'm unsure why but I am running into a mental block that has me stuck at the starting gate in regards to designing this one.

Currently, I have 1 table: tbl_Agents

This database is going to be used to track monthly call center metrics such as average handle time, average hold time and after call work. It will also track some additional stats using percentages.

My major hangup at the moment involves the month to month data. Like I said, I have an Agents table which currently is comprised of about 40 employees. If I'm going to be receiving monthly data for lets say, 6 different metrics, can anyone offer any advice as to the best way to structure this? Is the best practice to create a second table with just the metrics or am I way off? My long term solution of an easy way to import this monthly data hasn't been figured out yet but I just want to clear this hurdle in my head as to the best way to initially structure this.

If this helps as well, the final results being asked of me is that it will generate reports that can be pulled that will be in Pivot Chart format.

I appreciate any advice that can be given. I apologize if the info I provided is vague.

Thanks!

 

[Ranman256]

yes, youd want a 2nd child table... tCalls (?)
agent, dateOfCall, phone#, Time, etc...

you can import this data via TransferTExt, or TransferSpreadsheet.
in a macro

then queries to calculate AVG everything.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

First, you don't say how big your call center is (other than "40 agents") so the scope of your calls (in terms of number of products/services supported) is not clear. Second, your number of agents is important but not nearly as important as total call volume.

Commercial systems exist that track Help Desk calls and spew out reports as a built-in feature. While I don't want to downplay your technical abilities, there IS such a thing as cost-to-make/cost-to-buy comparison. Enough variety of products exist for large, medium, and small facilities that you might have a wide range of choices in terms of price and features. Do a web search of "Service Desk Software" or "Help Desk Software" or "Call Center Software."

If your boss wants only the statistical analysis after-the-fact, this might even be something you could do in Excel, depending on how and where you get the data. On the other hand, if the boss is trying to do an on-the-cheap end run to avoid paying for complex support packages, you had better get a really GOOD definition of the scope of these calls because otherwise you are going to be saddled with something that might be more than a one-person development project.