About Forecasting
You use forecasting to analyze historical data, forecast workload, and plan capacity based on the historical data analysis.
You can use forecasting to estimate whether your workforce is sufficient to meet the anticipated demand. You can also prepare for spikes in the demand based on various events, such as marketing campaigns and natural disasters.
While natural disasters are difficult to predict, you can use your past experience of handling similar situations to plan sufficient standby personnel.
Advertising campaigns, on the other hand, are planned in advance and Forecasting can be an important part of that planning. For example, if a cable television company offered a special Christmas package last year, the historical data reflects a spike in the connecting activities in the last December. When a similar campaign is planned, forecast can indicate the estimated workforce needed to cover the increased demand. The company can use that data to evaluate in-house capacity and, if necessary, engage contractors to cover that period. The company can also use forecasting to predict a lull in demand over the summer months and schedule vacations for its own personnel over that same period.
You can use Oracle Fusion Field Service Forecasting Cloud Service not just to forecast workload, but to analyze gaps in your mobile workforce. You can use up to 3 years of data for forecasting. As Forecasting includes permission-based access, you can control the information that your supervisors and mobile workers can view. Your managers with local focus can view a forecast, plan, or capacity and compare at specific time durations or by specific working areas. At the same time, they can roll up the information for viewing at a corporate level, across an entire company. It is a single source of information regardless of who accesses it.