T

T1 Circuit. A high speed digital circuit used for voice, data or video, with a bandwidth of 1.544 megabits per second. T1 circuits offer the equivalent of twenty-four (24) analog voice trunks.

Talk Time. The time an agent spends with a caller during a transaction. Includes everything from "hello" to "goodbye."

Target -the company's stated goal for consistent service to customers.

Forecast -what you have calculated the service level will be for a given day (or other interval).

Actual-what the service level actually turned out to be on a given day (or other interval).

Some companies use their Average Speed of Answer as a benchmark instead of a service level.

Team- A user-defined group of agents, usually collected under a group specific label (such as French, Spanish, East, West, etc.).

Telecommuting. Using telecommunications to work from home or other locations instead of at the organization's premises.

Telephone Service Factor (TSF). The TSF measures how quickly incoming calls are answered. The customer specifies the time (in seconds) in the programming of the telephone system. The percentage of incoming calls answered or abandoned before that time (in seconds) is the TSF. A value of 100 means all calls were answered or abandoned within the customer-defined time threshold. Calls Time Overflowed and calls answered by target agents (TOF In Calls) are included in these calculations because TOF In Calls accumulate a Before Time Threshold value. However, TOF In Calls do not last in the target queue long enough to accumulate an After Time Threshold value. Calls Time Overflowed from a source ACD queue (TOF-Out) are not counted in this field because the TSF factor does not apply to calls answered by the source agent.

Telephony Applications Programming Interface (TAPI). CTI protocol developed by Microsoft and Intel.

Telephony Services Application Programming Interface (TSAPI). CTI protocol developed by Novell and AT&T.

Threshold. The point at which an action, change or process takes place.

Tie line. A private circuit that connects two ACDs or PBXs across a wide area.

Time Accounting Code (TAC). A tracking code used to categorize time spent on different activities in the call center. Synonymous with exception codes, without the negative connotation. TACs can be classified as negative (representing time off the phones) or neutral (simply tracking which hours are overtime hours, for instance).

Timed Overflowed In (TOF). ACD calls that hit the call's primary ACD target and then are either assigned to an ACD agent as an Overflow ACD target or are assigned to an ACD agent in an ACD queue where the group is defined as an Overflow ACD target. The source and target queues must have the Timed Overflow option turned on for accurate reports. For example, the source ACD queue has the option turned off and the target ACD queue has the option turned on. When an overflowed call is answered by the target queue, that call is pegged as answered for the target queue but not for the source queue, resulting in an inaccurate report.

Timed Overflowed Out. ACD calls that hit the call's primary ACD target and then are either assigned to an ACD agent as an Overflow ACD target or are assigned to an ACD agent in an ACD queue where the group is defined as an Overflow ACD target. A call is also counted as Overflowed Out of the ACD queue when it is assigned (by the Northern telephone system) to an extension or when the call is routed off-site. Calls answered by voice mail are counted as Overflowed Out. The source and target queue must have the Timed Overflow option turned on for accurate reports. For example, the source ACD queue has the option turned off and the target ACD queue has the option turned on. When an overflowed call is answered by the target queue, that call is pegged as answered for the target queue but not for the source queue, resulting in an inaccurate report.

Toll-Free Service. Enables callers to reach a call center out of the local calling area without incurring charges. 800 and 888 service is toll-free. In some countries, there are also other variations of toll-free service. For example, with 0345 or 0645 services in the United Kingdom, callers are charged local rates and the call center pays for the long distance charges.

Total Delay. The total amount of time delayed callers had to wait to be answered. Arrived at by multiplying the Average Speed of Answer by the Number of Delayed Callers. Important in calculating the telecom costs associated with a poor service level.

Total Handle Time (THT). The total time spent handling calls. Arrived at by multiplying AHT by NCH. Synonymous with workload.

Total Out Time (TOT). In an inbound call center, the total amount of time spent on outbound calls. Arrived at by multiplying AOT by NOC.

Total Talk Time (TTT). The total time spent talking to customers on incoming calls (in an inbound call center) or on outbound calls (in an outbound call center). Arrived at by multiplying ATT by NCH.

Total Work Time (TWT). Also known as Post-Call Processing (PCP), Pas Libre, Not Available, Wrap Time. The total amount of time spent unavailable for new calls, working on issues related to past calls. Arrived at by multiplying AWT by NCH.

Traffic Control Center. See Network Control Center

Transaction. See Call.

Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). The protocols that govern the exchange of sequential data. TCP/IP was designed by the U.S. Department of Defense to link dissimilar computers across many kinds of networks. It has since become a common standard for commercial equipment and applications.

True Calls Per Hour. Actual calls an individual or group handled divided by occupancy for that period of time.

Trunk Group. A collection of trunks associated with a single peripheral and usually used for a common purpose.

Trunk Load. The load that trunks carry. Includes both Delay and Talk Time.

Trunks Idle. The number of trunks in a trunk group that are non-busy.

Trunks in Service. The number of trunks in the trunk group that are functional.

Transferred Internal DN Calls (IDN). The Transferred IDN number is the sum of all the calls the agent Transferred or Conferenced while on an active Non-ACD call. The number increases when the Transfer or Conference is complete.

Transferred ACD Calls. The Transferred ACD number is the sum of all the calls the agent Transferred or Conferenced while on an active ACD call. The number increases when the Transfer or Conference is complete.

Trunk. Trunks are the physical links that enable telephone communication. A trunk route carries calls from outside to answering positions in your ACD queue.

TSF. see Telephone Service Factor