Dynamics 365 Contact Center – Create and manage shift plans for effective staffing and service coverage

We are announcing the Create and manage shift plans for effective staffing and service coverage feature for Dynamics 365 Contact Center. This feature enables the creation of detailed shift plans that define staffing needs and required skills while ensuring queue coverage. It supports scheduling of specific activities aligned with work calendars and time zones for optimal operational efficiency. This feature will reach general availability on May 2, 2025.How does this affect me?This feature supports efficient shift planning by ensuring that skilled service representatives are available at the right times to meet forecasted demand. It allows businesses to define activities such as work, breaks, and training, helping to enhance workforce productivity while maintaining operational efficiency. With this feature, you can do the following:Required staff - Align shift staffing with the capacity plan to ensure the right number of service representatives are scheduled based on forecasted demand. Assign skills - Ensure that service representatives with the necessary skills are scheduled for each shift. Queue coverage - Define the queues that the shift plan supports to maintain service consistency. Shift activities - Specify activities such as work, training, breaks, and lunch to structure shifts effectively. Calendar - Set operational parameters, including shift days, weekly recurrence patterns, times, and time zones, for better organization. What action do I need to take?An administrator must install the Workforce Management for Customer Service package in the Power Platform admin center to activate this feature. To accomplish this, take the following steps:Log in to the Power Platform Admin Center using your administrator credentials. In the left navigation menu, click on Environments. Click to open the details for the environment where Workforce Management (WFM) needs to be enabled. From the toolbar, select Resources and then choose Dynamics 365 Apps. In the Dynamics 365 Apps section, click the Install App button. From the list of available apps, select Workforce Management for Customer Service and click Next. Review the terms of service, agree to them, and click Install to begin the installation process. If you would like more information on this feature, please visit Create and schedule a shift plan.