Call centers monitor their operations based on various metrics and key performance indicators (KPI) to measure how their employees and equipment are performing. These metrics can tell many things, including details that can make evaluations overwhelming with confusing numbers. Most of the time, they only tell about minor statistics but don t reflect the overall status of the operation.
This doesn’t mean that they’re unimportant; there are just bigger KPIs that deserve greater attention because they can determine how far along a call center is in a campaign.
The International Customer Management Institute (ICMI) indentified what those indicators are to help Philippine call center services providers know exactly what to watch out for.

• First-call resolution

The first-call resolution or FCR is a critical metric that contact centers aim to ace. When problems don t require follow-up calls to be fixed, both you and your customers reap benefits.

On the customers’ part, a high FCR rate primarily means higher satisfaction, knowing that the representatives value them enough to not waste their time and provide effective solutions right away. In turn, the call center is able to lower their operating costs because of the low instances of repeat calls. The workload it lifts similarly elevates the satisfaction and retention of employees, knowing that they’re efficient for their position and exposed less to irate calls.

• Response time

Response time simply refers to how fast agents respond to calls. It s a target-based KPI that call centers try to keep at a minimum because it reflects the call center’s accessibility. This metric is also tied to the results you want to achieve. Not only is this an indicator of how well-staffed you are, it also indicates the quality of customer experience you deliver, since being made to wait is among people’s definition of bad service.

• Forecasting accuracy

Call centers that are able to accurately estimate demand can make effective staffing practices, which, in turn, lower queue period, customer frustration, agent burn out, and telecommunications costs.

• Self-service availability

Self-service options, such as FAQ pages on the company s website and customer service apps, have become indispensible tools that help make voice operations more manageable and give customers more convenient points of contact. A call center’s success is measured not only by how its phone agents treat customers, but also through the flawlessness of their self-service platforms. Companies that have invested in maintaining latest innovations and keeping these up to date are also likely the ones that are ahead of the curb.

There are other metrics, such as customer satisfaction, call quality, and schedule adherence that studies and common sense support as top indicators of a call center’s success. The ones listed here, however, should be closely monitored because they are directly tied to the workforce’s productivity and overall operation’s efficiency.