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What is the Difference Between First Call Resolution and One Call Resolution?

April 13, 2022 | 3min read

What is One Call Resolution?

One Call Resolution (also known as one contact resolution) is a metric that measures an organization's performance for resolving customer interactions on the first call or contact using only one touchpoint.

​Put differently, One Contact Resolution (OCR) considers usage across all touchpoints and the number of contacts made to resolve an interaction. In other words, OCR does not have to use another touchpoint (e.g., call center website, email, chat) prior to, during, or after using their primary touchpoint to resolve an inquiry or problem.

​Today's connected customers expect to resolve their interaction on the first contact regardless of what touchpoint (e.g., call center website, email, chat) they use. SQM research shows that most customers expect that any touchpoint they choose should be able to resolve their interaction. Furthermore, most customers do not want to use multiple touchpoints to resolve their interactions.

​However, given that so many customers use multiple touchpoints to resolve the same interaction, it has become imperative to measure touchpoint's ability to resolve an interaction on the first contact using only one touchpoint. Therefore, the OCR metric can be beneficial in determining if a touchpoint is effective for resolving customer interactions on the first contact and without having to use other touchpoints.

FCR vs OCR

How to Calculate One Contact Resolution Metric?

OCR calculation is based on the percentage of customers who resolved their inquiry or problem on the first contact using only one touchpoint. For example, the Voice of the Customer (VoC) OCR metric is based on three post-contact survey questions. To be considered OCR, a customer needs to answer these questions as follows:

  • "Was your inquiry or problem resolved?"
    • Customer answers 'yes'
  • "How many contacts did you make to resolve your inquiry or problem?"
    • Customer answers' one contact.'
  • "Did you use another touchpoint to resolve your inquiry or problem?"
    • Customer answers 'no'

OCR Calculation

The calculation of VoC OCR is based on the number of surveyed customers who determined their inquiry or problem was resolved on the first contact and used only one touchpoint, divided by the total number of customers who were surveyed.

OCR Calculation

Note: Click this inner link on how to calculate internal FCR and OCR metrics

OCR Calculation Example

Definition of One Contact Resolution

What are the Benefits of One Call Resolution?

The benefits of delivering OCR, from a customer's point of view, are the following:

  • Their inquiry or problem is resolved effortlessly; after all, what customers really want is to resolve their inquiry or problem on the first contact using only one contact channel
  • Higher satisfaction for touchpoint experience because they only had to use one contact and one touchpoint to resolve their inquiry or problem

The benefits of delivering OCR, from an organization's point of view, are the following:

  • ​Touchpoint containment is when a touchpoint is effective at resolving an inquiry or problem, and therefore other touchpoints are not necessary. Unlike internal measurements, OCR provides insights into touchpoint containment from a customer perspective. For example, only the customer can tell the organization if they expect the touchpoint to resolve their inquiry or problem. In essence, the OCR metric is a touchpoint containment measure
  • OCR provides insights into the areas of the organization that require improvement
  • High OCR performance increases Csat, customer retention, and referrals

Difference Between One Call Resolution and First Call Resolution

The below figure shows the difference between First Call Resolution (FCR) and OCR performances when a call center was one of the touchpoints used. The data reveals that OCR is 11% lower than FCR. The reason for this difference is that FCR is based on a customer resolving their inquiry or problem on the first call and considers only the usage with the call center touchpoint. Put differently, FCR does not consider whether or not other touchpoints were used. Conversely, OCR is based on customers resolving their inquiry or problem on the first contact using only one touchpoint. In other words, OCR is not having to use another touchpoint prior to, during, or after calling the call center.

CALL CENTER FCR AND OCR METRICS DIFFERENCE

FCR vs OCR graph

OCR is a tougher metric to achieve than FCR because of the calculation of OCR factors in whether or not other touchpoints were used. However, for the average call center, an alarming 41% of customers cannot resolve their inquiry or problem on the first contact. Many of those customers use a self-service touchpoint prior to calling the call center. Given that only 59% of customers have an OCR experience, it should be viewed as a huge wake-up call for the contact center industry to start measuring the customer's entire experience (i.e., all touchpoints used) when trying to resolve the same inquiry or problem.

​The world-class standard is 80% for FCR and 75% for OCR. The FCR and OCR world-class standards are based on the top 5% performing contact centers. SQM truly believes that of all the contact center metrics, FCR and OCR are the metrics that matter the most. These metrics drive customer satisfaction, retention, and referrals.