Benchmarking and Definitions Within Contact Centres

BENCHMARKING AND DEFINITIONS WITHIN CONTACT CENTRES

SECTION 1: 100 CALL CENTRE DEFINITIONS (A-Z)

Below are 100 frequently used words and phrases, along with a range of definitions. There are a number of locations on the web where additional information can be found, should any gaps remain unfilled, and some of these web pages are listed at the end of this chapter.

ABANDONED CALLS
Calls which arrive at the ACD but terminate before an agent has answered.

See also Lost Call.

ACD - AUTOMATIC CALL DISTRIBUTOR/DISTRIBUTION
Technology which facilitates the handling of large call volumes by controlling the order in which calls are offered to agents, routing calls to particular agent groups and providing a wide range of statistical information used in managing a call centre. Either hardware or software based, the ACD offers sophisticated options for call handling within a centre.

AGENT EFFICIENCY
The time an agent spends in Talk Time and After-Call Work, handling a transaction.

AGENT ID
The identity code used by agents to log into the ACD system. The code enables the system to track performance.

ANI - AUTOMATIC NUMBER IDENTIFICATION
A feature which enables the caller's own telephone number to be forwarded at the same time as their call, so they can be identified.

ANNUALISED HOURS
Allows employees to contract to work a set number of hours per year and then agree with the employer on the actual distribution of hours by days, weeks, or seasons to fit their mutual convenience.

ARCHITECTURE
The overall design of hardware or software. 'Open architecture' means the design of the programming can be changed by users.

ATTRITION
The term used to cover loss of staff from a centre usually described as a percentage of total staff. To fully understand attrition the reasons for staff loss need to be understood.

AUTO ATTENDANT
A recording which asks the customer to either press buttons on the keypad or state which extension they want. The system then automatically routes their call.

AUTOMATIC DIALLER
See also OUTBOUND DIALLER, POWER DIALLER, PREDICTIVE DIALLER)

Allows outbound calls to be made automatically and on answer refers the connection to a free agent.

AVAILABLE
An agent who is logged into the ACD and waiting for an inbound call. Also called idle or ready.

AVERAGE HANDLE TIME (AHT)
The sum of the average Talk Time and the average After Call Work for a specified period.

BACK OFFICE
That part of an organisation which does not have a first line interface with the customer. The back office will usually deal with fulfilment, paperwork and more complex problems requiring a degree of expertise.

BENCHMARKING
The process of measuring products, services and practices against the market, competitors or those companies recognised as industry leaders.

BLENDING
Where the same agents work on both inbound and outbound calling during any one day dependent on volume requirements.

BLOCKED CALL
A call that cannot be connected immediately because (a) no line is available at the time the call arrives, or (b) the ACD is programmed to stop calls from entering the queue when the queue exceeds a defined size.

CALL/CONTACT CENTRE
'Contact Centre' is gradually replacing the term 'Call Centre' because it more accurately describes the activities now taking place. In addition to telephony, contact centres provide customer access through e-mail and progressively through web chat. A simple overview of contact centres is focussed in three areas:

People
The basic skill set is literacy, some technology skills or at least keyboard skills, good interpersonal communication skill and, for e-mail and web chat reasonable spelling and grammar capability.
Process
Contact centres exist across all industries and sectors. Split broadly into inbound and outbound activity the work involves communicating with customers to identify new business opportunities or provide service.
Technology
Increasingly, the simpler activities in contact centres are becoming automated leaving the human operator to deal with the more complicated interaction. As voice recognition improves even further this trend will continue.

CALL OR CONTACT CENTRE AGENT
The person who receives or makes calls in a call or contact centre.

CALL OR CONTACT CENTRE MANAGER
Person with overall operational responsibility for the management of the call or contact centre.

CALL SCREENING
A process for directing calls via an auto attendant or IVR system.

CALLER IDENTIFICATION
The identification of the inbound caller in a call or contact centre from their telephone number. Potentially, this enables customer details to be retrieved from the customer database and displayed on the agent's screen (screen popping). It is also called 'calling line identification,' 'automatic number identification' and 'calling party number.'

CALLING LINE IDENTITY (CLI)
Technology which enables a caller's number to be (optionally) forwarded with the call, thus facilitating identification.

COMPUTER-BASED TRAINING (CBT)
A process which, through interaction between a user and a computer, training is delivered at the user's pace. Access is through a specific programme or can be web based. The benefit claimed for CBT is that it can be utilised at the desk during slack periods.

COMPUTER TELEPHONY INTEGRATION (CTI)
The software, hardware and programming that automatically links voice with the data stored in the computer providing sophisticated customer management possibilities. CTI will usually allow calls and accompanying computer screens to be passed between workstations for referral.

CONTACT MANAGEMENT
Contact Management is a software solution which allows instant company wide access to detailed and integrated contact information

COST PER CALL
This is calculated by dividing the number of calls handled into the full cost of the entire call centre operation. There can be issues in comparing costs on this basis unless operational costs are understood across the comparators.

COST PER CALL MINUTE
This is calculated by multiplying the average length of call (in minutes) by the number of calls and dividing this figure into the full cost of the entire call centre operation.

CROSS SELLING
Selling related goods and services to a customer.

CUSTOMER INTERFACE
The point of interaction with the customer - including web, telesales operator, call centre, or face to face.

CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT (CRM)
Where companies record and use a variety of methods and contact strategies to try to build lasting and profitable relationships in order to retain the best customers and generate profitable revenue.

DATA CLEANSING
The process of removing inaccurate and historical data from operational systems.

DATABASE
Any collection of information, but generally one which can be segmented and searched automatically.

DDI - DIRECT DIAL INWARD
The option to dial directly into a company and reach a specific extension without going through a switchboard.

DISASTER RECOVERY/BUSINESS CONTINUITY
A process intended to provide up to date operational plans to handle and/or recover from serious or catastrophic events.

e-BUSINESS
All business that is conducted over or from the Internet, digital television or via e-mail.

e-COMMERCE
Trading where the transaction, including payment, takes place over the Internet.

e-LEARNING
Learning together through the internet without necessarily physically being together.

ELECTRONIC MAIL RESPONSE SYSTEM
Software that can draw information from an electronic 'knowledge base' in order to send an almost instant automatic response by electronic mail.

ERLANG
A formula developed to determine call traffic management including scheduling of agents, call forecasting and service level achievement. There are several versions of the formula, each with a slightly different purpose.

EXTRANET
Internet-like system where, in addition to staff access is extended to specific users outside the company, for example special customers or suppliers.

FAX BACK
A facility which allows information to be given to a remote fax machine so that a fax response can be obtained automatically.

FAX PREFERENCE SERVICE
The Fax Preference Service was set up by the Direct Marketing Association (UK) Limited (DMA) in 1997 as a voluntary self-regulatory mechanism to enable consumers to opt-out of receiving unsolicited sales and marketing faxes at home.

FIREWALL
A security system intended to protect a network against external threats (from other networks, such as the internet). A firewall prevents computers on the organisation's network from communication directly with non-authorised computers.

FULFILLMENT
The business process which deals with taking orders for goods and services and ensuring that they are delivered in accordance with promises made. Some products can be delivered electronically while others require to be physically delivered.

FULL-TIME EQUIVALENT (FTE)
The number of agents employed or required expressed in terms of total man-hours required divided by the number of hours a full time agent would normally work.

HELP DESK
A term that generally refers to a call centre set up to handle queries about product installation, usage or problems. The term is most often used in the context of computer software and hardware support centres.

IDLE
Describes an agent who is available and waiting for a call to come in. 'Available' or 'Ready' may also be used.

INBOUND
Calls made to a centre.

INTELLIGENT ROUTING
A process which will take information from callers via auto attendant or IVR and utilise that information to ensure that calls are directed to a specific area of the call centre.

INTRANET
A network of networks that uses the internet but is contained within a controlled environment, for example, internal company information that can only be viewed by employees.

IVR - INTERACTIVE VOICE RESPONSE
Software which will automatically interact with a caller either through a keypad or using voice recognition software. IVR will provide information or direct calls as appropriate.

IVW - INTERACTIVE WEB RESPONSE
Enables customers to transact business over the Internet, interacting with the company's database, then transfer to an agent in the contact centre to continue the transaction over the phone or via web chat.

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (KPI)
Those areas identified by organisations as being critical to their successful performance.

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
A process that collates the information available within an organisation and makes it available in a user-friendly manner to identified groups within or external to the organisation.

LOAD BALANCING
The capability to switch calls between different call centres depending upon call volumes and agent availability, creating a virtual call centre.

LOCAL AREA NETWORK (LAN)
The connection of multiple computers within a building, so that they can share information, applications and peripherals.

LOST CALL
Calls which arrive at the ACD but terminate before an agent has answered. See also Abandoned Call.

MIDDLEWARE
Software that integrates different types of hardware and software on a network in a more efficient manner.

MIS - MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SERVICES
ACD reports providing data on agents and agent groups, inbound and outbound calls, and exchange lines.

MONITORING
The process of listening to agents' telephone calls for the purpose of maintaining quality.

MULTIMEDIA
Combining multiple forms of media such as voice and web in the communication of information.

MUSIC/MESSAGING ON HOLD
Music or service or sales messages played during the period when a caller is placed in a queue or on hold.

OCCUPANCY/UTILISATION
The percentage of time an individual agent, or all agents (average) are actively occupied during talk time and wrap up time usually expressed as a percentage of total logged on time.

OFFERED CALLS
All of the attempts callers make to reach the call centre.

OUTBOUND
All calls that are made by the call centre.

OUTBOUND DIALLER
This automates outgoing calls and has various levels of sophistication. See Power and Predictive Dialler.

OUTSOURCING
A service in which an external call centre in employed to provide voice and related services under contract.

OVERFLOW
When calls are flowed from one Agent Group to another in order to be handled more quickly or efficiently.

POWER DIALLER
Allows outbound calls to be made automatically and on answer refers the connection to a free agent. See also Power and Predictive Dialler.

PREDICTIVE DIALLER
Software which regulates the number of outbound calls made based on the probability of an agent being available. See also Power and Predictive Dialler.

PROGRESSIVE DIALLER
Monitors the status of operators before calls are made and keeps agents supplied with live calls and virtually eliminates nuisance calls.

PSYCHOMETRIC TESTING
There are three main types of psychometric testing: (1) ability testing; (2) aptitude testing; and (3) personality testing. These are designed to test a person's potential to fulfil and succeed in particular roles.

QUEUE
Where calls are held when no agents are free.

QUEUE TIME/QUEUING
The number of seconds a call waits in queue before handling.

READERBOARDS
A visual display, usually mounted on the wall or ceiling, that provides real-time and historical information on queue conditions, agent status and call centre performance.

READY
Describes an agent who is logged into the ACD and available and waiting for a call to come in. 'Idle' or 'Available' may also be used.

RESPONSE TIME
The measurement used to describe the period in which a customer awaits a response either from a call centre or from a website.

RING TIME
The length of time between dialling and the call being answered either by a live agent or the ACD delay announcement.

SCREEN POPPING
Where integration between the computer and the telephone (CTI) enables the system to attempt identification of each call and look into the database for a match, and, if available, to deliver a caller information screen with the call.

SEATS
Positions or consoles at which agents can work within a call centre. Usually each seat will have a computer terminal and an ACD turret. Each seat may represent more than one employee where multiple use of equipment is the norm.

SERVICE LEVEL
The percentage of calls you expect to handle in a specific number of seconds.

SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENT
Performance objectives reached by consensus between the user and the provider of a service, or between an outsourcer and an organisation. A service level agreement specifies a variety of performance standards that may or may not include 'service level'.

SKILLS-BASED ROUTING
Where calls are identified and then routed through to the most appropriate agent.

SMS
Also known as text messaging, these are written messages sent from or received by mobile phones.

SPEED TO ANSWER
The time from a call arriving at the ACD to being answered by an agent. Average Speed of Answer (ASA): The average length of time a caller waits to be connected to an agent - the total delay divided by total number of calls.

SUPERVISOR
The person who has front-line responsibility for a group of agents.

SWITCH
The telephone system and/or ACD.

TALK TIME
The time in seconds an agent is talking, from answering a call to the caller hanging up.

TEAM LEADER
Person with some supervisory or managerial responsibilities for a team of agents who may also work as an agent taking or making calls

TELEMARKETING/TELESALES
The terms 'telesales' and 'telemarketing' refer to any form of customer contact using the telephone that supports a number of sales and marketing objectives.

TELEPHONE PREFERENCE SERVICE
The Telephone Preference Service was set up by the Direct Marketing Association (UK) Limited (DMA) in 1995 as a voluntary self-regulatory mechanism to enable consumers to opt-out of receiving unsolicited sales and marketing calls.

UNAVAILABLE
Agent status when logged on to the ACD but not available to take calls, for example during paid breaks or coaching sessions.

VIRTUAL CALL CENTRE
A call centre consisting of several sites that acts as a single site for call handling and reporting purposes.

VOICE OVER IP
Where a voice conversation with an agent is maintained over the same telephone line as the Internet connection.

VOICE PROCESSING
A generic term for a variety of applications such as IVR, voice mail and auto attendants.

VOICE RECOGNITION
The capability of a voice processing system to recognise and decipher spoken words and phrases.

WEB ENABLED
When the user clicks a 'press to talk' icon on a web page it initiates a call directly into the contact centre through a process called 'Voice Over IP'. The agent's screen may automatically 'pop' with the web page the browser is viewing as the call comes through.

WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE
Software systems that forecast call load, calculate staff requirements, organise schedules and track real-time performance of individuals and groups.

WRAP UP
The time spent completing work associated with a call after the caller has hung up. Also commonly referred to as After Call Work.

WRAP-UP CODES
Codes agents enter into the ACD to identify the types of calls they are handling. The ACD can then generate reports on call types, by handling time, time of day, etc.