Service Level

Service level is one metric where many call centers are desperate for a benchmark, but it’s really a matter of what works for your contact center and your customers.

For years, contact centers have coveted a familiar list of key performance indicators -- service level, average speed of answer, number of calls handled, abandon rate, wrap-up time, et. al. But recent research suggests that no single KPI has a bigger impact on customer satisfaction than does first call resolution (FCR).

Grabbing the attention of C-level execs has become less of a struggle for contact centers in recent years, what with the proliferation of reliable call reporting tools and customer satisfaction tracking systems.

The online movie rental subscription service leader drops email support in favor of phone customer service.

Contact center managers too often obsess over what they come across in best-practice benchmark reports. They see that other centers are achieving loftier performance objectives or are able to retain agents without the use of force, and they immediately start thinking, "We need to do that, too."

Most indications are that small call centers (i.e., 20 or fewer agents) make up the fastest growing segment of the call center industry. New help desks, information lines, sales and customer service centers spring into existence daily. Often, managers new to call centers are assigned to these young operations. And therein lies an irony: in a number of fundamental ways, small call centers are more challenging to manage than large call centers.

For smaller call centers, the struggle to do more with less has been a long-time management ordeal. And as larger centers barrel ahead with the transition to the multichannel environment, the necessity for small operations to keep pace with the types of service options being offered has added a new dimension.

For telecom providers, global research highlights the opportunity to differentiate themselves from competitors by improving the quality of their service.

For telecom providers, global research highlights the opportunity to differentiate themselves from competitors by improving the quality of their service.

Close doesn't count when it comes to call volume forecasting in the call center. A methodology that takes into account linkages between variables and factors overlooked in past data can help pinpoint your needs for staffing and related resources.