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Call center service level monitoring is one of the best ways to gauge the performance of your contact center. No matter what industry you work in, having a familiarity with your business’s key metrics will help you perform at your best. In the contact center industry, however, monitoring these figures can prove a challenge.
This is where contact center service levels come in. Tracking these can help you determine which areas your team should focus on improving to maintain a high quality of customer care.
In this article, we explain service levels in more detail. We explain not only what service level is in call centers but also how you can calculate these figures yourself and improve upon them.
This is where contact center service levels come in. Tracking these can help you determine which areas your team should focus on improving to maintain a high quality of customer care.
In this article, we explain service levels in more detail. We explain not only what service level is in call centers but also how you can calculate these figures yourself and improve upon them.
What Is Service Level in a Call Center?
A contact center’s service level is a measurement of its performance, most often expressed as a percentage
In most businesses, this figure refers to the number of key performance indicator (KPI) goals the company has met during a given period of time. But when it comes to the call center service level definition, it refers specifically to the percentage of incoming calls answered by operatives within a given period.
On the surface, this service level definition for call centers seems simple enough. However, the process of calculating a contact center’s service level is somewhat confusing, with there being multiple conflicting viewpoints on the topic.
On the surface, this service level definition for call centers seems simple enough. However, the process of calculating a contact center’s service level is somewhat confusing, with there being multiple conflicting viewpoints on the topic.
Call Center Service Level Standards
Traditionally, contact centers have aimed to answer 80% of calls in twenty seconds or less, commonly expressed as 80/20. In recent years, however, many companies have made a departure from these call center standards. Some may choose to relax this target, while other contact centers look to increase their call center service levels standards.
1
Relaxed
Some contact centers lower their service level standards to 80/60 or 70/20. This lowers the amount of stress placed on contact agents, allowing them to perform better in their customer care role, thereby enhancing client satisfaction. Additionally, it can lower the number of operators you will need to hire, saving your business money.
2
Boosted
Many other contact centers decided to raise their service level standards instead. Customers appreciate not having to wait for minutes or even hours at a time in long queues; raising the standard service level helps keep your queue moving. Furthermore, many contact centers with boosted service levels see a noticeable decrease in call abandonment rates.
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How to Calculate Service Level in call center
Now that we’ve discussed what they are, we’ll discuss how to calculate service levels. To do this, you will need specific contact center software. The process can be difficult, but if you follow the below steps, you should find it relatively simple to figure out your service level using a call center service level calculator.
The first step in this process is to decide what objective you’re going to be concentrating on. To decide on a goal, think about the expectations your clients hold and what the requirements of your company are.
Are you more concerned with taking a large volume of calls? Or do you consider fixing client problems to be a greater priority? Asking questions like this can help you decide upon a service-level goal.
Are you more concerned with taking a large volume of calls? Or do you consider fixing client problems to be a greater priority? Asking questions like this can help you decide upon a service-level goal.
In terms of contact center services, start time usually refers to the second the call comes through and starts ringing. However, it can also refer to when the client has answered the final self-service menu question or the moment the automated queue greetings end.
The contact center service level threshold refers to the time in which operators should answer the phone. As mentioned above, twenty seconds has long been the standard service level threshold for contact centers, though it may be more or less.
The contact center service level threshold refers to the time in which operators should answer the phone. As mentioned above, twenty seconds has long been the standard service level threshold for contact centers, though it may be more or less.
Next, you have to choose how often you are going to measure contact center service levels. To gain an accurate idea of your contact center’s performance, you should perform your calculations at regular intervals.
How frequently you make these assessments depends on the size and needs of your company. For example, if you’re a large enterprise, you may benefit from monthly assessments.
How frequently you make these assessments depends on the size and needs of your company. For example, if you’re a large enterprise, you may benefit from monthly assessments.
The next step in the process is to gather the necessary data for your service level calculation—for example, the total number of incoming calls your agents answered and abandoned within the given threshold. It is up to you whether you collect this information manually or automatically.
Once you have all the necessary information, it’s time to calculate your contact center service level. There are three different call center metrics formulas to help you do this.
Formula #1
The number of calls answered during the given threshold, divided by the total number of calls answered, X 100%.
This method is the simplest of the three we’ll consider and is perhaps the most commonly used because of this. One downside of this call center service level formula, however, is that it does not consider abandoned calls alongside answered ones.
Formula #2
The number of calls answered during the given threshold + the number of calls abandoned during the given threshold, divided by the total number of calls answered + the total number of calls abandoned, X 100%.
Unlike the first formula we considered, this method takes both answered and abandoned calls into account.
Formula #3
The number of calls answered during the given threshold, divided by the number of calls answered + the number of calls abandoned, X 100%.
Similar to the second formula we considered, this method also considers abandoned calls. Where they are considered positive in the second formula, however, here, they are negative.
Formula #1
The number of calls answered during the given threshold, divided by the total number of calls answered, X 100%.
This method is the simplest of the three we’ll consider and is perhaps the most commonly used because of this. One downside of this call center service level formula, however, is that it does not consider abandoned calls alongside answered ones.
Formula #2
The number of calls answered during the given threshold + the number of calls abandoned during the given threshold, divided by the total number of calls answered + the total number of calls abandoned, X 100%.
Unlike the first formula we considered, this method takes both answered and abandoned calls into account.
Formula #3
The number of calls answered during the given threshold, divided by the number of calls answered + the number of calls abandoned, X 100%.
Similar to the second formula we considered, this method also considers abandoned calls. Where they are considered positive in the second formula, however, here, they are negative.
3 Tips to Help You Meet Contact Center Service Level Targets
Once you’ve figured out how to calculate service level in a call center, you’ll no doubt wonder how you can regularly meet your contact center service level goals. As we near the end of this article, we’ll explain three ways you can focus on meeting—and improving on!—these all-important targets.
- Decrease Rate of AttritionWhen employees leave, you have to dedicate a considerable chunk of time, energy, and money bringing on someone to replace them. Not only that, but new hires are usually not as productive as those who have been with your business for a while since they lack the same level of experience.
To ensure you’re able to hold onto efficient, productive employees, you should consider:- Providing monetary incentives, such as bonuses and paid leave.
- Offering additional rewards for high performance.
- Taking the necessary steps to prevent burnout in your agents.
1 - Utilize Contact Center SoftwareUsing contact center software is a great way to improve upon the overall performance of your contact center by promoting agent productivity and tracking KPIs. This type of software comes with a plethora of tools to make meeting contact center service level targets a breeze.
For example, here at Selmo, we offer the following tools with our contact center software:- Predictive and Power dialers: Ensure your agents’ efficiency by taking care of dialing automatically.
- Call recording: Ideal for training and quality maintenance.
- Call monitoring: For evaluating the performance of your operators and providing feedback.
- Workforce management: For ensuring your representatives are all working at their best.
2 - Evaluate KPI targetsTake the time to evaluate and align your KPI targets. These goals are often mutually dependent, so it’s important to make sure they all support one another well. For example, if you aim to have agents resolve a call within five minutes or less, then the average handle time (AHT) should reflect this.3
Conclusion
Evaluating your contact center service levels gives you a clear idea of how your company is performing. It’s important to regularly set aside the time to make these assessments, making sure you use the right formula for you and your business.
As we’ve mentioned, calculating this figure can be a bit tricky. But the advice set out in this article is bound to point you in the right direction. Try our software today to easily simplify the calculation process and find out how to improve your business!
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