Agent Utilization

Agent utilization quantifies the amount of time agents spend engaged in, or trying to engage in, productive tasks, such as handling calls, responding to emails, live chats, after-call work, and other duties directly related to customer service, as a percentage of their total paid time in center.

Agent utilization is a crucial performance metric that helps contact centers assess how effectively their agents utilize their work hours. Higher agent utilization indicates that agents efficiently utilize their time to handle customer interactions and perform productive tasks.

By monitoring and managing agent utilization effectively, contact centers can optimize resource allocation, improve operational efficiency, and provide better customer experiences. Striking the right balance between agent workload and efficiency is crucial to maintaining a high level of service while ensuring a positive working environment for agents.

Formula to Calculate Agent Utilization:
(Transaction Handle Time + Available) ÷ (Paid Onsite Time)

 

Where:

• Transaction Handle Time: The cumulative time agents spend actively handling customer interactions, including talk time, after-call work (ACW), and any other productive activities related to customer service.
• Available: Time agents spend ready to handle interactions.
• Paid Onsite Time: The total time agents are paid, excluding non-work paid time (e.g., vacations, benefit time).

Key Points About Agent Utilization

• Efficiency Measurement: Agent utilization is a fundamental metric for gauging agent performance efficiency in the contact center. It assesses how productively agents use their time to engage with customers and address their needs.
• Optimizing Workforce Management: Contact centers aim to optimize agent utilization to ensure agents engage in meaningful activities and balance productive and offline activities.
• Balancing Workload: Properly managing agent utilization helps balance the workload, ensuring that agents are productive but still able to get time for breaks, coaching, training etc.
• Real-Time Monitoring and Adjustments: Contact center managers continuously monitor agent queues in real time to adjust staff and offline activities and maintain optimal service levels based on fluctuating call volumes or other factors.