Navigate the Main Forecast page

AI-generated summary

Genesys Cloud provides comprehensive forecasting and workforce planning capabilities through its Main Forecast page, which integrates up to 5 years of historical interaction data with 2 years of forecast projections. The platform supports multiple media types including inbound voice, chat, callbacks, messages, and email, with data presentation available in graphical and tabular formats at 15/30/60 minute, daily, and weekly intervals. Access to forecasting features requires specific licensing (Genesys Cloud CX 3, 4, 3 Digital, or WEM Add-on) and appropriate permissions including Workforce Management, Analytics, and Routing queue access. Data retention varies by granularity: 15-60 minute intervals retain 59 weeks of forecast and 31 weeks of actuals, daily granularity extends to 261 weeks of actuals, and weekly granularity covers all available data. The Main Forecast interface offers multiple visualization formats including Historical view for comparing actual interactions against past forecast snapshots, Trend view for identifying patterns across historical and forecast data, and Forecast view for current and future projections. Navigation tools include a Business Unit selector, Date Range Selector with timezone information, Granularity Selector supporting multiple intervals, and Zoom level Selector with pre-configured options. Finer granularities are available only for shorter date ranges up to two weeks. Key analytical capabilities include automated nightly forecast snapshots that enable comparison of historical forecast versions without system modifications, customizable visualizations with adjustable zoom levels, and trend analysis with forecast accuracy measurement. The system tracks offered interactions and average handle time metrics through specialized widgets that enable filtering by planning groups and time periods. The Detected Outliers tab displays historical values differing from expected patterns, which Genesys Cloud automatically normalizes during forecast generation to improve accuracy while preserving original historical values. The Analysis section enables comparison of multiple datasets, including overlay of historical actuals and review of detected outliers with visual indicators marking affected periods. The Totals widget displays forecast totals for selected metrics, the Data Comparison widget enables comparative analysis with data point locking capabilities, and the Planning Group widget allows filtering using Quick Filter or Advanced Search options based on Media Type, Queue, Language, and Skills. Users can reset configurations to default settings through Reset colors and Reset all settings options. A feedback mechanism is available for reporting issues or usability concerns.

PrerequisitesClick to expand

The Main Forecast view displays actual and forecasted aggregate interaction data. Forecasts include up to 104 weeks (two years) of data, while actuals include up to 261 weeks (five years) of data. The data includes and . Data is organized by planning groups and can be filtered by metric, dates, and planning groups. You can view the data in table and graph views.

The Main Forecast page also helps you understand how Genesys Cloud generates forecasts by detecting and normalizing outliers. Outliers are actuals that differ significantly from expected values. During forecast generation, Genesys Cloud automatically normalizes these values and uses the normalized values instead of the outlier values to improve forecast accuracy. The Detected Outliers tab displays actual values that Genesys Cloud identified as outliers during forecast generation.

The Main Forecast view has the following sections:

Forecast navigation sectionClick to expand

The main content of the view includes a graph and options to retrieve and explore the data.

Displays the Main Forecast with the associated data

Option

Description

Main forecast metric selector

The Main Forecast view displays one metric at a time. Use the metric selector list available on the upper left corner of the Main Forecast page to switch between Offered and Average Handle Time metric. The Offered metric is displayed by default.

Time zone selector

Select a time zone from the list on the upper right corner. This field displays the forecast in the time zone of the Business Unit by default.

Business Unit selector

Access the data for a specific business unit by selecting it from the Business Unit selector on the upper right corner.

Main Forecast views

The Main Forecast views include:

– View the historical portion of the data including all the actual interaction data in Genesys Cloud and any data that is imported via Historical Data Import. By default, Genesys Cloud stores up to five years of history. You can use the Historical view to compare historical actuals to past Continuous Forecast snapshots to measure forecast accuracy.
– View data trends. The graph is a combination of Historical and Forecast Views and allows access to all available data for the Business Unit.
– View the forecast graph of the current and future portions of the data. You can further use the Forecast View to compare forecast and actual overlays data.
– View the Main Forecast in graph format. You can use the graph for high-level exploration that reveals trends, seasonality, and anomalies at a glance.
– View the Main Forecast in a column-based table that displays exact values and enables side-by-side comparison of intervals, snapshots, and overlays. Use the table view when you need precise, accessible, column-level analysis.

Latest

Navigates to the latest data point (most recently generated forecast) in the graph view or the corresponding row in the table view. This option is available only in the Trend view.

Date Range Selector

Filter data to a specific date range. In addition, upon mouse hover over, view the business unit time zone and display time zone details.

Zoom level Selector

Control the range of the data that you want to view on the graph. You can use the different pre-configured zoom levels to quickly navigate the graph.

The zoom level impacts the granularity displayed in the forecast chart and when the zoom level does not match the pre-defined options, it is blank. You can also zoom in and out of the chart using the Ctrl and mouse scroll wheel (Windows) and command + (Mac).

Granularity Selector

Control the granularity of the data you want to view. The following table illustrates the supported granularities per zoom level:

Granularity	Supported Zoom Level
15 minutes	<= 2 weeks
30 minutes	<= 2 weeks
60 minutes	<= 2 weeks
Day	=> one week <= 2 months
Week	=> one Month

The Main Forecast page supports:

15 mins, 30 mins, or 60-mins granularity for the first 59 weeks of the continuous forecast and most recent 31 weeks of actuals.
Daily granularity for the first 59 weeks of the continuous forecast and up to 261 weeks of actuals.
Weekly granularity for the entire range of available data.

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Analysis sectionClick to expand

Click the image to enlarge.

Analysis section displays actuals versus forecast fields

Category	Description
Forecast Snapshots	View the forecasts generated in the past. These forecasts are automatically generated and updated every night, providing refreshed predicted values. You can view a snapshot of the continuous forecast generated in the past on a specific day, allowing you to compare its past versions of the forecast with the current version. Continuous forecast snapshots do not include modifications as they are system-predicted values. For example, if you select a snapshot from one week ago, the chart displays the continuous forecast generated one week ago. You cannot use snapshots for scheduling or capacity planning but you can use it to compare with historical actuals for accuracy and also compare with newer forecasts to see how the forecast has changed over time. To configure the color of the snapshot line on the chart, click the colored circle next to the snapshot name and choose a color from the palette. Click the image to enlarge.
Actual Overlays	Pin segments of the historical data to a specific week in the forecast. For example, you can show last week’s actuals starting this week to make a comparison.

Category

Description

Forecast Snapshots

View the forecasts generated in the past. These forecasts are automatically generated and updated every night, providing refreshed predicted values. You can view a snapshot of the continuous forecast generated in the past on a specific day, allowing you to compare its past versions of the forecast with the current version.

Continuous forecast snapshots do not include modifications as they are system-predicted values. For example, if you select a snapshot from one week ago, the chart displays the continuous forecast generated one week ago. You cannot use snapshots for scheduling or capacity planning but you can use it to compare with historical actuals for accuracy and also compare with newer forecasts to see how the forecast has changed over time.

To configure the color of the snapshot line on the chart, click the colored circle next to the snapshot name and choose a color from the palette. Click the image to enlarge.

Actual Overlays

Pin segments of the historical data to a specific week in the forecast. For example, you can show last week’s actuals starting this week to make a comparison.

Data or widget selection sectionClick to expand

Click the image to enlarge.

Data or widget section that displays the data corresponding to the widget selected.

The right side of the Main Forecast view displays several widgets that provide additional information and options.

Widget	Description
Totals widget	View forecast totals for the selected metric based on the selected date range.
Data Comparison widget	View graph values by hovering the mouse over the graph. View details such as continuous forecast, actuals, and any additional selected datasets. The widget displays data corresponding to the default data point. The default data point is Latest or middle of the graph, if Latest is not visible based on the selected date range. If both forecast and actuals are available for the specified data point, the comparison widget includes comparative analysis data, such as difference and accuracy. You can lock the data point on the graph or row in the table by double-clicking a data point. Once done, the Data Comparison widget remains fixed on the locked item and does not update as you move across other data points providing a stable reference point while exploring the dataset.
Planning Group widget	Select planning groups to filter the data. Use the Quick Filter to find planning groups based on their name. Use the Advanced Search option to find planning groups based on Media Type, Queue, Language, and Skills. Notes: Workforce management supports inbound voice, chat, callbacks, messages, and email media types for forecasting and scheduling. Scheduled callbacks, non-scheduled callbacks, and ACD voicemail media types appear as callbacks in forecasts and schedules.
Display Options widget	Reset the Main Forecast view to defaults using the following options: Reset colors – resets all graph lines to use default colors. Reset all settings – resets all settings including the selected view, metric, date range, selected planning groups, selected datasets, and enabled widgets.

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