Measure call center performance

Perhaps your business needs a call center and you are wondering how to optimize your assistance service. To have a view of the results of this endeavor, you need to measure your performance and that of the call center.

Firstly, it is critical to identify the KPIs (key performance indicators) or the indicators that monitor and record your performance. Using these indicators, you can measure the productivity level of your company, identify the critical issues and make the necessary corrections.

In the event that the management of your call center has been outsourced, the indicators to be monitored are already identified at the time of signing the contract. In particular, the KPI considered is called SLA (service level agreement) and commits the outsourcer to maintain certain volumes of calls within a predetermined time. For example, this might entail answering 80% of phone calls within one minute. 

KPIs to monitor the performance of a call center

Here are some parameters that can be set to keep constant watch on the performance of a call center, whether it is an inbound or outbound activity.

Response Time 

How long it takes for an operator to answer an incoming call. This measurement is usually expressed in seconds. 

Abandon Rate

Percentage of missed calls that are not answered. 

Call Handling Time

This is a measure, usually expressed in seconds, of the time an agent is on a call with a user. This time varies according to the nature and complexity of the problem to be solved. Consequently, this is not an absolute metric, but the average call handling time is a metric for evaluating individual teams within the call center.

First Call Resolution

Percentage of requests resolved in a single call, therefore requiring neither the user nor the operator to undergo a second call. This parameter is actually an agent performance indicator. The better the agent, the higher the individual FCR will be. However, this is not an exact measure, because the resolution of the call may require action from someone other than the agent, such as a supervisor or another department. FCR is difficult to measure accurately and must be carefully evaluated.

Transfer Rate

In addition to First Call Resolution, some call centers also measure the speed of transfer. This is a measure, expressed as a percentage, of the number of calls that the operator must transfer to someone else to complete. This could be a supervisor or another department. The reason for the transfer could be due to operator fault, user request, or incorrect routing of the incoming call.

Idle Time

This is a measure, usually expressed in seconds, of the time it takes for an operator to complete a call after the user has hung up. For example, it could be the time taken by the operator to place the required material in an envelope and mail it to the user. Some call centers require operators to handle such problems while the user waits on the phone. This will result in less downtime, but higher call handling time.

Waiting Time

This is a measure, generally expressed in seconds, of the time an operator keeps a user on hold during a call. It may be as a result of time searching for information or talking to someone else to find an answer to the problem. Many call centers also specify a maximum length of time a user can be kept on hold. 

Better results with an outsourced call center

In the face of high costs and management difficulties, a fundamental form of help for businesses today comes from outsourcing.

Entrusting a call center to outsourcing means having lower labor costs. In fact, hiring a resource internally would result in a great burden for the company, which instead will be able to outsource not only the recruitment of personnel, but also training. In this way, it will be able to rely on the highly qualified personnel of the outsourcing company. 

Another important advantage is that by outsourcing the call center service, the company will not have to worry about investing in new technologies.

Outsourcing allows companies to concentrate on core business activities and delegate tasks that are useful for improving products or services outside of the company.

If you want to design specific solutions for your business, just contact us at We Are Fiber.