As of November 2026, CXBPO's surge staffing gives regulated contact centers trained extra agents for two kinds of spikes. Dated surges (rate cases, bill redesigns, enrollment windows, Medicaid rule changes) get a ramp plan locked at 90, 60 and 30 days. Storms and outages get standby agents who can take calls about 30 minutes after your go signal.
Results vary by program, volume and channel mix.
- Day 90Broad forecast
- Day 60Hiring and classes set
- Day 30Plan locked
- Trained and nested248 of 310
- Go signal6:42 a.m.
- First standby call answered7:09 a.m.
Got a letter or call from TSI about your own account? Go to the Consumer Support Hub or make a payment.
What a missed surge costs you
A surge rarely fails on the forecast. It fails on the week the calls arrive, when hold times stretch, callers hang up and redial, and the abandonment rate you report to your commission or program office jumps in a single interval.
Then come the complaints, a regulator's data request and overtime that burns out your best agents.
Some of these dates are already on the calendar. CMS says 43 states and the District of Columbia must start Medicaid community engagement (work) requirements by January 1, 2027, or earlier if a state chooses. A member the state can't verify gets a noncompliance notice with 30 calendar days to respond (CMS, June 2026). Every one of those notices can turn into a phone call.
Others aren't. U.S. electricity customers averaged 11 hours without power in 2024, and major events such as Hurricanes Beryl, Helene and Milton caused 80% of those hours (EIA, December 2025). Those calls come with a few hours' warning at best.
What's included
Ramp plans for dated surges
A week-by-week plan built backward from your date, with decisions due at 90, 60 and 30 days.
Standby agents for storms
A set of agents already trained on your scripts, safety transfers and escalation paths, who log in on your signal. Activation thresholds and who can give the signal are written down before the season.
Agents trained before the first call
Classroom training on your rules, a week in a training bay at about 1 supervisor to 15 agents, stage-gate exams, then supervised nesting. Agents who can't pass don't take your calls.
Seats where your program needs them
Work at home, onshore, nearshore or offshore, set program by program. Programs that require agents to live in your state can be staffed that way.
Real-time levers on the day
Overtime, shift extensions, moved breaks, paused offline work and calls shifted between TSI sites, run by workforce analysts watching every interval.
Hourly reporting during events
Live queue status, hourly service level and an escalation log while the surge runs, then a post-event review with what broke and what changes.
How it runs
Start with the date and the history
Your workforce team and ours forecast in 30-minute intervals by queue, using last year's volumes and the drivers behind them: a rate increase, a meter rollout, a winter rule change, a new bill format.
Lock the plan in stages
At 90 days you get a broad forecast and a recruiting plan. At 60, headcount, class dates and equipment are set. At 30, the plan is locked, and changes come from the returning-agent pool and schedule levers.
Ramp 3 to 4 months out
For a seasonal peak, recruiting and classes start 3 to 4 months ahead. Trainers come from operations and stay with their classes on the floor as floor support.
Staff above the forecast
Peak schedules cover 110% of forecast volume within your service level, so a 10% miss doesn't become a crisis.
Step down on purpose
After the peak, agents who performed well move to other queues or stay on standby, and the post-peak review sets the forecast for next year.
When the surge has no date
For a storm, the standby team works as an operating mode of your regular program, led by the same managers. With trained standby agents in place, they can be taking calls about 30 minutes after your go signal.
Without a standby arrangement, expect 30 minutes to a couple of hours, longer at night and on weekends, depending on how many agents you need and what last-minute instructions they need.
Routine "when's my power back" calls can go to outage messages and IVR you approve. Downed wires, gas smells and customers on medical equipment go to a trained person every time. The bill calls come later, and Every storm hits a utility twice explains that second wave.
Where it fits with the rest of CXBPO
Surge staffing sits on top of your steady-state program. When CXBPO already runs your customer care, the surge team comes from cross-trained agents who know your systems. Back-office processing staff can move to the phones when the trigger fires and back to their queues after.
For a utility, storm season is the obvious first surge to plan (collections and customer care for utilities). Public programs plan around renewals and policy deadlines (receivables recovery for government).
What you see
Daily and intraday reports on service level, calls handled against forecast, abandonment and schedule adherence. Each week, a 4 to 5 week forward forecast plus last week's forecast against actuals. During an event, hourly service level, queue status and escalations, then a root-cause review afterward.
Planning targets are written down too: within about 5% of actual volume on short-term forecasts and about 10% on long-term ones.
General information, current as of November 2026. It isn't legal advice. Rules change and differ by state, so check the sources linked here and talk to your own counsel before you act on it.
The company behind the work
Questions buyers ask
What is contact center surge staffing?
Contact center surge staffing is extra trained agents added for a known or sudden spike in calls, planned so they're ready before the volume arrives.
How far ahead should we plan call center staffing for a Medicaid deadline or rate case?
Start about 90 days before the date, with a broad forecast and recruiting plan. Set headcount and class dates at 60 days and lock the plan at 30. For a large seasonal peak, recruiting and training start 3 to 4 months out.
How fast can an outsourced call center add agents during a storm outage?
With a standby arrangement and agents trained on your scripts, about 30 minutes after your go signal. With no standby arrangement, 30 minutes to a couple of hours, and longer at night.
Can an outsourced call center keep trained agents on standby for storms?
Yes, and it works best when they aren't idle. Storm standby agents come from your regular program, cross-trained on outage calls. Agents hired for a dated peak can move to other queues afterward or stay on standby.
Can agents be located in our state?
Yes, where your program requires it. You choose the delivery model for each program, and it goes into the contract.
See where your next surge could break
Bring one date you're worried about. In a 30 to 45 minute CX Surge Readiness Review, we walk your plan with you, then send a written ramp outline and gap list.
Got a letter or call from TSI about your own account? Go to the Consumer Support Hub or make a payment.
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