Your call center is a pivotal touchpoint for your customers, and one of the first places they connect with the humans behind your brand. Each call represents an opportunity to provide exceptional experiences and turn callers into long-term customers and raving fans when answered quickly and handled correctly.
Learning how to monitor call center performance helps you identify where your team is excelling and where there’s potential for improvement. Metrics are the starting point for gaining those insights. See how you can leverage call center metrics to support customer success with help from AnswerHero™.
Essential Call Answering Metrics
Service Level Metrics
Service-level metrics quantify a service’s output or performance. Key performance indicators (KPIs) for service level metrics include:
Average speed of answer (ASA): ASA is the time between the first ring and the first live call agent on the line. It demonstrates your team’s responsiveness. Calculate it by dividing the total wait time for answered calls by the number of answered calls. An increase in ASA can mean opportunities exist to improve productivity, add more agents or enhance efficiency.
Abandonment rate: This metric is the number of callers who hang up while waiting for a team member. Determine this by subtracting the number of calls handled from the number received, then dividing by the total number of calls received. A high abandonment rate suggests wait times are misaligned with customer expectations, and that it may be time to assess staffing levels and agent productivity.
First call resolution (FCR): FCR measures the number of customer issues that live agents resolve with the first call. It’s often the leader of key performance indicators for answering services and call centers. Calculate this percentage by dividing the total number of issues solved on first contact by the total number of first-time calls and multiplying the result by 100.
Call handling time: Average handle time refers to the call duration, and it’s a nuanced metric that involves balancing exceptional service with efficiency. Measure this by adding talk, hold and wrap-up time and dividing the result by total calls.
Customer Satisfaction Metrics
Customer satisfaction metrics help deepen your understanding of your customers’ experiences with your call center. KPIs to monitor include:
Customer satisfaction (CSAT) score: Your CSAT score shows how happy customers are with the interaction they’ve had with your call center. Social media posts, reviews and customer surveys with positive and negative responses are excellent for evaluating this metric. Calculate the percentage by dividing the number of positive responses you receive by the total responses given and multiplying that result by 100.
Net promoter score (NPS): NPS is a customer loyalty measurement that indicates long-term happiness. Surveys typically ask a simple question about how likely the respondent is to recommend your business to others, and they request a score between 1 and 10. Those who rate you a 9 or 10 are promoters with high loyalty. Those who rank their likelihood at 7 or 8 show less loyalty, and those scoring 6 or below are detractors who are more likely to attrit.
Customer effort score (CES): This score helps determine how easily customers get what they want from your company in an interaction and often uses a Likert scale to survey consumer perceptions. Align each response with a number to quantify the answers, adding up the ratings and dividing them by the total responses to establish a score. A high CES can indicate potential obstacles in customer journeys.
Efficiency and Performance Metrics
Efficiency and performance metrics are vital in call center monitoring as indicators of productivity and optimized operations. Popular KPIs falling in this category include:
Cost per call: This metric shows the mean cost of calls your agents handle and tells you how effectively you allocate resources and control expenses. Calculate this amount by dividing the total cost of all calls received by the number of inbound calls handled.
Agent utilization: Agent utilization rate is a popular call center metric determining the percentage of time agents actively work on customer cases during their shift. Measure this by dividing the total time an agent is handling customer-related work by the total time they spend logged in, and multiply that result by 100. A 75% to 90% utilization rate balances impactful activities with appropriate breaks to avoid burnout — a reality affecting 56% of call center agents.
Call volume: Call volume KPIs show the number of calls a contact center receives during a defined period and include those handled by live agents plus those completed via interactive voice response systems. Tracking this metric helps managers understand demand so they can better shift resources to meet it.
Tools and Technologies for Measurement
Analytics software simplifies measuring and tracking your call center performance metrics. These platforms automatically pull and calculate the relevant data and provide details with template reports or customized setups. You can instantly view the KPIs that matter most to your organization or use the data for pattern identification and more informed decision-making.
Many customer relationship management (CRM) systems offer built-in data analytics and reporting combined with real-time dashboards for early insight into your contact center metrics. Artificial intelligence (AI) tools are also available in advanced software that offers predictive analytics and trend-spotting tools for greater insights.
If you outsource phone support to a third party like AnswerHero™, ensure they provide complete visibility into their answering service metrics. At AnswerHero™, we use technology to monitor performance and opportunities for improvement and share those details with you. Having access to this data is essential since it empowers you with the information you need to quantify and improve your call center performance.
Analyzing Data and Taking Action
Once your KPI data is accessible, leverage it to drive value by taking the following actions to enhance the customer experience and optimize processes:
Assess current performance: Use your existing measurements to understand where your call center is at the moment. These percentages and scores establish benchmarks to compare future data against so you can measure success.
Set your goals: Determine where you’re performing well and where opportunities lie. Develop realistic goals for maintaining or improving KPIs with input from your team to increase engagement.
Track over time: Monitor your call center’s progress toward goals regularly. Doing so tells you where you’re on track while providing an early indication of where adjustments may be necessary to reach your goals.
Partner with call answering experts for KPI improvement: Consider supplementing your existing team with the highly trained call agents at AnswerHero™. We’re a data-driven partner with a team that can deliver exceptional service, boost customer satisfaction and enhance productivity and efficiency.
Answer Every Call, Every Time With AnswerHero™
AnswerHero™ is a trusted provider of call answering services for today’s busy professionals in various industries. We work as an extension of your in-house team to ensure you never miss a call and have its opportunity to create an exceptional interaction. Our services are transparent, scalable and contract-free. Enjoy access to personalized call center metrics, dependable 24/7/365 coverage and 100% bilingual call answering under the most flexible terms possible.
Never miss an important call again with AnswerHero. Our team of professionals will answer calls 24/7/365 based on the information you provide about your business. We handle basic processes like taking messages and routing calls, but we can also make appointments and provide translation services. See the difference AnswerHero makes — choose your plan or contact us today.
