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- These terms will give you a firm grounding in call center lingo, particularly from a scheduler's perspective. These terms (and variations on them) are used throughout the call center industry.
See also: Glossary Terms A - C
See also: Glossary Terms D - M |
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Glossary Terms N - Z
Number of Calls Abandoned (NCA)
Also known simply as Abandons. The number of callers who hang up (abandon hope) before their call is answered by an agent or before they make a selection in an IVR. Arrived at by subtracting NCH from NCO.
Number of Calls Handled (NCH)
Also known as Contacts. The count of calls that are actually handled by agents or by the IVR. Different IVR systems will have different definitions of "handled". On the agent side, the call is counted if it is answered by an agent. Always less than or equal to NCO. Arrived at by subtracting NCA from NCO.
Number of Calls Offered (NCO)
The count of calls that came into the inbound call center, including calls that abandon because they are not answered in time. The total number of calls received, whether or not they are handled by agents or an IVR. Always greater than or equal to NCH. Arrived at by adding NCA to NCH.
Number of Outbound Calls (NOC)
In an inbound call center, a count of the number of calls an agent places to other departments, other agents, or the outside world. Outbound calls are generally made while working on issues related to an incoming call: checking order status with a supplier, for example, or calling a customer back to let them know an issue is resolved.
Occupancy Rate (Occ)
The percentage of their signed-in time that your staff is occupied by calls or post-call work. The total time they are unavailable for another call. The total amount of time they are not idle (i.e. not waiting for another call) divided by the total time they are logged into the telephone.
Out Call Ratio (OCR)
In an inbound call center, the rate at which outbound calls are made in relation to the number of inbound calls handled. Arrived at by dividing NOC by NCH. If I make 17 outbound calls for every 100 calls I handle, my OCR would be 17%.
Phone Time
Also known as Total Sign-In Time. Less specific, but sometimes synonymous terms include Active Hours, Staffed Hours, Productive Hours. The total amount of time spent signed in to the phone system.
Queue
A line. A bunch of people waiting. A place for people to line up, like in a bank with a maze of velvet ropes. ACDs handle queuing in inbound call centers, keeping incoming calls in order and dispatching them to the first available agent.
Sales
Very simply, the act of making a sale. A count of all sales made in a revenue-generating call center. Also called conversions or closes. Other terms may be used in outbound call centers where surveys are performed, and a completed survey is similar to a completed sale.
Sales Per Hour (SPH)
A simple measure of productivity in a sales-oriented call center. Arrived at by dividing Sales by Phone Time. If an agent makes 30 sales in 5 hours, she has an SPH of 6.0.
Service Level
The percentage of calls answered within a certain time factor. For example,"90% of all calls were answered in 20 seconds in our call center today." There are three important service levels that the scheduler has to be concerned about:
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- Target
- the company's stated goal for consistent service to customers.
- Forecast
- what you have calculated the service level will be for a given day (or other interval).
- Actual
- what the service level actually turned out to be on a given day (or other interval).
Some companies use their Average Speed of Answer as a benchmark instead of a service level.
Time Accounting Code (TAC)
A tracking code used to categorize time spent on different activities in the call center. Synonymous with exception codes, without the negative connotation. TACs can be classified as negative (representing time off the phones) or neutral (simply tracking which hours are overtime hours, for instance).
Total Delay
The total amount of time delayed callers had to wait to be answered. Arrived at by multiplying the Average Speed of Answer by the Number of Delayed Callers. Important in calculating the telecom costs associated with a poor service level.
Total Handle Time (THT)
The total time spent handling calls. Arrived at by multiplying AHT by NCH. Synonymous with workload.
Total Out Time (TOT)
In an inbound call center, the total amount of time spent on outbound calls. Arrived at by multiplying AOT by NOC.
Total Talk Time (TTT)
The total time spent talking to customers on incoming calls (in an inbound call center) or on outbound calls (in an outbound call center). Arrived at by multiplying ATT by NCH.
Total Work Time (TWT)
Also known as Post-Call Processing (PCP), Pas Libre, Not Available, Wrap Time. The total amount of time spent unavailable for new calls, working on issues related to past calls. Arrived at by multiplying AWT by NCH.
Workload
The amount of work to be done in a given period. In any environment, there are tasks to be completed and each task will take a certain amount of time. The total amount of time spent required to finish all the tasks is the total workload. In a call center environment, the formula would be NCH x AHT (where the AHT includes all time required to handle every aspect of the call). Workload is used to determine how many base staff are needed to serve the customers. Often measured in Erlangs. See Total Handle Time. To Top
