Unexpected volume spikes are a fact of life for Australian contact centres. Whether driven by seasonal demand, a major campaign, system outages or regulatory change, sudden surges can quickly overwhelm teams that aren’t prepared.
The challenge isn’t avoiding peaks altogether. It’s building the capability to absorb them without blowing out wait times, burning out staff or damaging customer trust.
Based on what we see across Australian contact centres, the most resilient operations focus on three practical areas.
1. Understand why your peaks happen – and when they don’t
Many contact centres plan well for predictable peaks like EOFY, weather events or retail sales. The real risk lies in spikes that feel “unexpected” but actually follow a pattern.
Common Australian triggers include:
- Government or regulatory changes driving customer confusion
- Marketing campaigns launching without operational alignment
- Billing cycles, price rises or contract changes
- Digital outages that push customers back to voice
High-performing teams regularly review:
- Contact drivers by channel and time of day
- Historical spikes linked to specific events
- The gap between forecast and actual volumes
This insight allows leaders to shift from reactive firefighting to informed scenario planning.
2. Build flexibility into workforce planning, not just headcount
Throwing more people at a spike is rarely the answer. The most effective contact centres design flexibility into their workforce model long before demand hits.
Practical strategies include:
- Multi-skilling agents across queues and channels
- Using part-time, split-shift or variable-hour contracts where appropriate
- Creating a trained relief pool or “surge team”
- Aligning shrinkage assumptions to realistic peak behaviour
Workforce planning tools are valuable, but only when paired with clear governance. Leaders need agreed triggers for when to open overtime, redeploy staff or adjust service targets during peak periods.
Flexibility reduces pressure on frontline teams and helps maintain service consistency when it matters most.
3. Use digital and self-service to deflect, not just absorb, demand
Volume spikes often expose gaps in digital experience rather than pure resourcing issues. If customers can’t find answers easily, they will call – especially during moments of change or uncertainty.
Effective contact centres focus on:
- Clear, proactive customer communications before known events
- Updating FAQs, IVR and chat flows ahead of campaigns or policy changes
- Monitoring digital containment rates during spikes, not just after
- Giving agents real-time guidance for new or complex enquiries
The goal isn’t to push customers away from human support, but to make self-service genuinely helpful. Done well, digital channels reduce avoidable contacts and free agents to handle more complex needs.
Staying calm when demand surges
No contact centre can predict every spike. But Australian organisations that invest in insight, flexibility and digital enablement are far better placed to respond without compromising customer experience or employee wellbeing.
Peak planning isn’t a once-a-year exercise. It’s an ongoing discipline that brings workforce, operations and CX teams together around a shared view of demand and risk.
At Customer Driven Solutions, we work with contact centre leaders to strengthen forecasting, workforce models and digital journeys – helping teams stay in control when demand is anything but predictable.