Welcome to our Contact Center Consulting Glossary, a comprehensive resource designed to help you navigate the intricate world of contact center operations and management. In this glossary, you will find concise explanations and definitions for key terms, acronyms, and concepts commonly used in the contact center industry. Whether you're a seasoned professional looking to refresh your knowledge or a newcomer seeking to grasp the fundamentals, this glossary is your go-to reference for unraveling the complexities of contact center consulting.
Abandoned Calls
Calls answered by the automatic call distributor (ACD) system and placed in a live agent or voice response queue but disconnected by the caller or incorrectly dropped by the queue management system before being answered.
Abandonment Rate
The percentage of incoming customer calls or contacts that the customers abandon before they can connect with an agent or complete their intended interaction.
Absenteeism
A measure of the percentage of staff absences during their scheduled shifts. Absenteeism directly affects the productivity and overall performance of the contact center.
Accuracy
The quality of the transaction. This measurement is usually separated into Customer-Critical, Business-Critical and Compliance-Error Accuracy. Accuracy may be measured as "percent correct," "percent defective," or "defective parts per million (DPPM)."
Advanced Call Center Technologies
A broad range of innovative tools, software, and systems utilized within call centers to enhance operations, improve customer service, and optimize communication between customers and agents.
After-Call Work (ACW)
The time an agent spends after finishing a customer interaction and is unavailable to take another call because of additional activities necessary to complete the previous call.
Agent
A frontline representative in a call/contact center responsible for handling interactions with customers. These interactions can occur via various channels, including phone calls, emails, live chat, social media, video calls, and more.
Agent Coaching
A structured and supportive process in which supervisors or experienced team members provide guidance, feedback, training, and assistance to frontline agents.
Agent Utilization
The measure of how effectively and efficiently contact center agents use agent time to handle customer interactions and perform work-related activities.
Application Programming Interface (API)
A set of rules and protocols that enable different software applications or systems to communicate and interact with each other.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
A branch of computer science that focuses on creating intelligent machines capable of simulating human intelligence and behavior.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) Customer Experience
The integration and utilization of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to enhance and personalize customers' interactions and experiences with a brand, product or service.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) Sentiment Analysis
The use of artificial intelligence (AI) and natural language processing (NLP) technologies to automatically analyze and determine the emotional tone or sentiment expressed in customer interactions.
Attrition
Voluntary and involuntary staff separations (see Item 3.8 Reducing Attrition and Absenteeism in the COPC CX Standard). Attrition refers to the rate at which employees or agents leave the organization over a specific period. It is a measure of employee turnover or churn within the contact center.
Automatic Call Distributor (ACD)
A technology solution that efficiently handles and distributes incoming calls. The telephony system automates routing incoming calls to the most appropriate agents or teams based on predetermined rules and criteria.
Automatic Dialer (Auto Dialer)
A telephony technology used in contact centers to automate the process of dialing phone numbers to connect agents with customers or prospects.
Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR)
A technology that converts spoken language into written text or digital data.
Automation
Technology and software used to streamline, enhance and optimize various processes and tasks within the contact center environment.
Auxiliary Time (Aux)
The time that an agent spends on activities other than handling customer interactions. It includes various non-productive or non-contact-related tasks that agents may need to perform during their work shifts. Auxiliary time is also known as non-talk time or non-call work.
Available Time
The duration an agent is ready and available to handle customer interactions. It represents when an agent is actively logged into the system and prepared to receive incoming calls, messages, or other types of customer contacts.
Average Handle Time (AHT)
The average duration of customer interaction, from when the customer initiates contact until the interaction concludes, and all work is completed after the interaction.
Average Speed of Answer (ASA)
The average amount of time all customers wait in a queue before their calls or chat requests are answered by agents. Because abandoned calls are not answered and can distort the value of this metric, they are not included in this calculation.
Average Talk Time (ATT)
The average duration of the talk time portion of a customer interaction. It specifically focuses on how much time agents spend actively speaking with customers during a call.
Average Time Late (ATL)
A weighted average calculation to monitor late backlog.