A

Abandoned Calls (Queues). An incoming ACD call is counted as abandoned when the caller hangs up before the call is answered by an agent or before the call is routed off-site. The sum includes calls that abandon while waiting for an agent to answer the call at their telephone. Calls that abandon while in the Timed Overflow (TOF) queue are counted against the ACD queue that initiated the overflow.

Abandoned Trunk Calls Before Threshold. A peg count of Calls Abandoned that shows how many calls were abandoned before the threshold time is reached. The threshold time is set in the telephone system for the ACD queue where a trunk route terminates. Do not try to relate these numbers to the numbers of Calls Abandoned in the Queue reports. The number of Call Abandoned in the Queue reports can include Abandoned Calls other than the Abandoned Trunk Calls (such as Overflowed Abandoned, etc.).

Abandoned Trunk Calls After Threshold. A peg count of Calls Abandoned that shows how many calls were abandoned after the threshold time is reached. The threshold time is set in the telephone system for the ACD queue where a trunk route terminates. Do not try to relate these numbers to the numbers of Calls Abandoned in the Queue reports. The number of Call Abandoned in the Queue reports can include Abandoned Calls other than the Abandoned Trunk Calls (such as Overflowed Abandoned, etc.).

Abandonment Rate (AR). The percentage of callers who hang up (abandon hope) before their call is answered by an agent or before they make a selection in an IVR unit. Arrived at by dividing NCA by NCO.

Accepted Calls (CDNs). The number of calls that entered the CDN and were routed by the telephone system according to the Enhanced ACD Routing script. The number of Accepted Calls for the CDN is equal to the number of Calls Answered plus the number Abandoned plus the number Routed to the CDN plus the number Disconnected plus the number Busy plus the number Defaulted to this CDN.

Accepted Calls (Queues). The number of calls placed in this ACD queue, including any Overflow by Number calls from another ACD queue. Timed Overflow calls from another ACD queue are not included. The number is based on the following:

• If a call is Night Forwarded, it is counted in the Interflow amount for the source ACD queue in the Queue report. If the Night Forwarded number is an ACD queue, then numbers of Calls Accepted, Answered, or Abandoned (among other things) are reflected in the count for the destination ACD queue. The call is not counted as an Accepted call (or Answered, etc) against the source ACD queue.
• If a call is not Night Forwarded (whether or not Night RAN is given), the call counts as an Accepted Call (or Answered, etc) against the source ACD queue. It will not count under Interflow in this case.
• If the Time Overflow feature is used, the Calls Answered value includes answered Time Overflow calls from another queue. Calls to this ACD queue that are answered by another queue (via Time Overflow) are not counted.

ACD. See Automatic Call Distribution

ACD Report Buffer. A component of ACD Performance Reporting that transfers your call center data from the Call Accounting Buffer to the ACD Parser program for processing into your historical database. The ACD Report Buffer is a software application that runs on a computer connected to the Call Accounting Buffer.

ACD state. When an agent is engaged on an ACD call, they are considered to be in the ACD state. Also see Agent states.

ACD time (Talk time, DCP time, ACD time, Customer talk time)
The duration of an ACD call (including ACD hold time), or the length of a customer's call. Basically, from the time the agent answers the ACD call to the time when either the customer or the agent disconnects the call. ACD time is also called Direct Call Processing time, Customer time, ACD Talk time, Call Processing time, or Talk time.

Active. In the Northern telephone system, 'active' is defined as having the ability to receive ACD calls. Agents become active when they log into the telephone system.

Adherence To Schedule. A general term that refers to how well agents adhere to their schedules. Can include both a) how much time they were available to take calls during their shifts, including the time spent handling calls and the time spent waiting for calls to arrive (also called Availability), and b) when they were available to take calls (also called Compliance or Adherence). See Real-Time Adherence Software and Occupancy.

After-Call Work (ACW). Also called Wrap-up and Post Call Processing (PCP). Work that is necessitated by and immediately follows an inbound transaction. Often includes entering data, filling out forms and making outbound calls necessary to complete the transaction. The agent is unavailable to receive another inbound call while in this mode.

Agent. The person who handles incoming or outgoing calls. Also referred to as customer service representative (CSR), telephone sales or service representative (TSR), rep, associate, consultant, engineer, operator, technician, account executive, team member, customer service professional, staff member, attendant and specialist.

Agent Group. Also called Split, Gate, Queue or Skills Group. A collection of agents that share a common set of skills, such as being able to handle customer complaints.
Agent Out Call. An outbound call placed by an agent.

Agent states. The type of telephone activity an agent either performed or is engaged in performing. The time an agent spends in each state is tracked and is included in the information sent by the Northern telephone system.

Agent Status. The mode an agent is in (Talk Time, After-Call Work, Unavailable, etc.).

All Trunks Busy (ATB). When all trunks are busy in a specified trunk group. Generally, reports indicate how many times all trunks were busy, and how much total time all trunks were busy. What they don't reveal is how many callers got busy signals when all trunks were busy.

All Trunks Busy Calls. A peg count of the number of times a call received by a trunk group could not be routed by that trunk group, due to the level of telephone traffic.

All Trunks Busy Time. The total amounts of time calls that were received by a trunk group could not be routed by that trunk group, due to the level of telephone traffic.

All Trunks Busy Longest
The longest amount of time a call was received by a trunk group and could not be routed by that trunk group, due to the level of telephone traffic.

Analog. Telephone transmission or switching that is not digital. Signals are analogous to the original signal.

Announcement. A recorded verbal message played to callers.

Answer Supervision. The signal sent by the ACD or other device to the local or long distance carrier to accept a call. ThatÍs when billing for either the caller or the call center will begin, if long distance charges apply.

Answered Call. When referring to an agent group, a call counted as answered when it reaches an agent.

Answered Trunk Calls Before Threshold
A peg count of Calls Answered that shows how many calls were answered before the threshold time is reached. The threshold time is set in the telephone system for the ACD queue where a trunk route terminates. Do not try to relate these numbers to the numbers of Calls Answered in the Queue reports. The number of Call Answered in the Queue reports can include Answered Calls other than the Answered Trunk Calls (such as Overflowed Answered, etc.).

Answered Trunk Calls After Threshold
A peg count of Calls Answered that shows how many calls were answered before the threshold time is reached. The threshold time is set in the telephone system for the ACD queue where a trunk route terminates. Do not try to relate these numbers to the numbers of Calls Answered in the Queue reports. The number of Call Answered in the Queue reports can include Answered Calls other than the Answered Trunk Calls (such as Overflowed Answered, etc.).

Application Based Routing and Reporting. The ACD capability to route and track transactions by type of call, or application (e.g., sales, service, etc.), versus the traditional method of routing and tracking by trunk group and agent group.

Architecture. The basic design of a system. Determines how the components work together, system capacity, upgradeability, and the ability to integrate with other systems.

ASA. See Average Speed of Answer

ATB. See All Trunks Busy

Attrition Rate (Attr). The rate at which sales that agents make are canceled. Arrived at by dividing the number of cancels by the number of sales. If I sell ten chocolate bars, and one customer later changes his mind and cancels, my attrition rate is 10%.

Audiotex. A voice processing capability that enables callers to automatically access pre-recorded announcements. See Voice Processing.

Auto Available. An ACD feature whereby the ACD is programmed to automatically put agents into Available after they finish Talk Time and disconnect calls. If they need to go into After-Call Work, they have to manually put themselves there. See Auto Wrap-up.

Auto Greeting. Agent's pre-recorded greeting that plays automatically when a call arrives.

Auto Wrap-up. An ACD feature whereby the ACD is programmed to automatically put agents into After-Call Work after they finish Talk Time and disconnect calls. When they have completed any After-Call Work required, they put themselves back into Available. See Auto Available.

Automated Attendant. A voice processing capability that automates the attendant function. The system prompts callers to respond to choices (e.g., press one for this, two for thatƒ") and then coordinates with the ACD to send callers to specific destinations. This function can reside in an on-site system or in the network.

Automated Call Distributor (ACD)
A computer that allocates incoming calls evenly between a group of agents. Incoming calls are held in queue and are connected to the first available agent. Examples: Rockwell Galaxy, Meridian MAX, Aspect. See also: Dialer.

Automatic Call Sequencer (ACS). A simple system that is less sophisticated than an ACD, but provides some ACD-like functionality.

Automatic Number Identification (ANI). A telephone network feature that passes the number of the phone the caller is using to the call center, real-time. ANI may arrive over the D channel of an ISDN PRI circuit (out of band signaling), or before the first ring on a single line (inband signaling). ANI is delivered from long distance companies. Caller ID is the local phone company version of ANI, and is delivered inband. ANI is a North American term, and Calling Line Identification (CLI) is an alternative term used elsewhere.

Auxiliary Work State. An agent work state that is typically not associated with handling telephone calls. When agents are in an auxiliary mode, they will not receive inbound calls.

Availability. See Adherence to Schedule.

Available State. Agents who are signed on to the ACD and waiting for calls to arrive.

Available Time. The total time that an agent or agent group waited for calls to arrive, for a given time period.

Average Busy Time
This is the sum of all Position Manned times, minus the sum of all waiting times, divided by the number of positions that had any Position Manned time accumulated against them.

Average Delay. See Average Speed of Answer.

Average Delay to Abandon (ADA) The time the average caller who abandoned waited before abandoning.

Average Delay of Delayed Calls. The average delay of calls that are delayed. It is the total Delay for all calls divided by the number of calls that had to wait in queue. See Average Speed of Answer.

Average Direct Call-Processing (DCP) Time
The average amounts of time per Answered ACD call that an agent (or agents) was engaged with an ACD call. This is the total time (in seconds) that each agent spent handling ACD calls divided by the total number of calls answered (by either the agent or the ACD queue). Handling time is the time from initial answer of the call to final release of the call. When the telephone system data includes Hold time, the average Direct Call Processing time does not include the Hold time. In this situation, the Average DCP time is the time that the agents are active on the call, excluding holding time of ACD calls.

Average Handle Time (AHT). The sum of Average Talk Time and Average After-Call Work for a specified time period.

Average Hold Time (HDCP time)
The average amounts of time per Answered ACD call that an agent (or agents) placed an ACD call on hold. Handling time is measured from the time the agent puts the ACD call on Hold to the time the agent becomes active on the call again or the caller abandons the call. The average Hold time is the sum of all ACD call hold times divided by the number of ACD calls answered by the agent or ACD queue. When the telephone system data includes Hold time, the average Direct Call Processing time does not include the Hold time. In this situation, the Average DCP time is the time that the agents are active on the call, excluding holding time of ACD calls.

Average Holding Time on Trunks (AHT). The average time inbound transactions occupy the trunks. It is: (Talk Time + Delay Time)/Calls Received. AHT is also an acronym for Average Handling Time, which has a different meaning.

Average Incoming Call Time
The average amounts of time per Non-ACD call that an agent (or agents) was engaged in a call on their Non-ACD extensions. This is the total duration (in seconds) of all incoming calls on the agent’s Non-ACD key(s) during the report period, timed from call answer to final call release, divided by the total number of Non-ACD calls received during that time period.

Average Incoming Call Time (Trunks)
The average amount of incoming trunk traffic time per Trunk call. This is the total incoming trunk traffic for the trunk route (in CCS) between seizure and disconnect (including non-ACD calls, if any) divided by the total number of calls that came in on this trunk route (including non-ACD calls) during the report period. The total number of calls per ACD queue equals the total number of Incoming Calls for all trunk routes terminating on the ACD queue.

Average Manned Time
The average amounts of time per reporting period agents were logged into the telephone system. This is the sum of all Position Manned times divided by the number of agent positions that had any manned time accumulated. An agent position is considered Manned when an agent logs into the telephone system, and the agent will continue to accumulate Manned time until the agent engages the Make Set Busy key (which logs them out of the telephone system.

Average Non-ACD In Time
The average amounts of time an agent spends engaged on incoming Non-ACD calls. The Average Non-ACD Incoming time is the sum of all times from the initial selection of the individual extension key, including transfer and conference keys, to the final release of the call, divided by the number of incoming calls. The telephone system only accumulates call time for one Non-ACD call per agent position at a time. It is not possible to add multiple simultaneous events (engaging on several Non-ACD calls at once, using the Hold feature) as the total Non-ACD time would exceed real clock time. This means that if an agent position has more than one DN (or extension) key and the agent uses both at once, the reported Non-ACD call time will not be accurate. Agent positions should be configured with only one extension key unless you are willing to forego the accuracy of Non-ACD call statistics.

Average Non-ACD Out Time
The average amounts of time an agent spends engaged on outgoing Non-ACD calls. The Average Non-ACD Outgoing time is the sum of all times from the initial selection of the individual extension key, including transfer and conference keys, to the final release of the call, divided by the number of outgoing calls. The system only accumulates call time for one Non-ACD call per agent position at a time. It is not possible to add multiple simultaneous events (engaging on several Non-ACD calls at once, using the Hold feature) as the total Non-ACD time would exceed real clock time. This means that if an agent position has more than one DN (or extension) key and the agent uses both at once, the reported Non-ACD call time will not be accurate. Agent positions should be configured with only one extension key unless the customer is willing to forego the accuracy of Non-ACD call statistics. If an agent is involved in a conference call or an outgoing Non-ACD call, or is transferring a call when the telephone data is generated, the Non-ACD Outgoing time includes the call start time minus the current time. The Non-ACD Out and Transferred IDN amounts are not incremented until the call is released, and they are reflected in the next reporting period.

Average Number of Agents. The average number of agents logged into a group for a specified time period.

Average Out Time (AOT)
In an inbound call center, the average amount of time spent on each outbound call. Arrived at by dividing TOT by NOC.

Average PCP Time (Not Ready)
The average amount of time per ACD call that an agent (or agents) was in the Post Call Processing (or Not Ready) state. The Average PCP time is measured from the time the agent goes into Not Ready (the NRD key activated) until the occurrence of any event that removes the agent from the Not Ready state. The average PCP time is the total time accumulated against all Not Ready states divided by the total number of ACD calls answered by an agent or ACD queue.

Average Speed of Answer (ASA)
Also called Average Delay. The average delay of all calls. It is total Delay divided by total number of calls. See Average Delay of Delayed Calls Depending on the ACD and the call center's policy, there are two possible definitions:

The time the average caller had to hold before being answered. Callers who are answered immediately are factored into the calculation with a 0 ASA.

The time the average caller who was not answered immediately had to hold. Callers who are answered immediately are excluded from the calculation.

If our call center received only three calls, and we took 20, 10, and 0 seconds to answer each of them, the first definition would give us an ASA of (20 + 10 + 0) / 3 = 10 seconds.

The second definition would give us an ASA of (20 + 10) / 2 = 15 seconds. The second definition ignores the third caller, who did not have to wait at all. This definition provides a more usable profile of caller delay. See also: Total Delay.

Average Talk Time (ATT)
The average time spent talking to customers per call. In an inbound call center, includes only inbound calls handled by the employee. In an outbound call center, includes only outbound calls handled by the employee. Arrived at by dividing TTT by NCH.

Average Time to Abandonment. The average time that callers wait in queue before abandoning. The calculation considers only the calls that abandon.

Average Wait Time before Abandon
The average amounts of time per Abandoned call the customer waited to be answered before abandoning the call. This is the total of all waiting times for Abandoned calls divided by the number of calls abandoned in the ACD queue this reporting period.

Average Waiting Time
This is the average amount of time that an agent was available to receive an ACD call. It is the total amount of waiting time divided by the number of incoming ACD calls answered.

Average Work Time (AWT)
The average time spent working on issues related to a single call. While working on, or 'wrapping up' the call after letting the customer go, the agent is unavailable for other calls. Arrived at by dividing TWT by NCH.