Rocky Mountain Regional Health Emergency Assistance Line and Triage Hub (HEALTH) Model

Contact Center Assessment Tool Set

This tool set has been developed in conjunction with an Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) contract. It
will calculate the amount of your constituent population that may try to reach your public health agency during a
bioterrorism or emergency event. The tool set allows for minimal input, as well as fine-tuning input that will make the
calculations more applicable based on the specifics of your agency, especially your current operational and technological
infrastructure and your capability to field public inquiries.
TOOL SET REQUIREMENTS: For this Excel worksheet to properly function, you must "Enable Macros" upon
opening this file. Therefore, the macro security level setting for Excel should be set no higher than "Medium," and
you should use virus protection software. If you were not given a window allowing you to select "Enable Macros"
upon opening this file, you may notice that many of the calculations will not work. Go to the "Tools" menu, select
"Macro," select "Security," and then choose "Medium" from the "Security Level" tab. Contact your internal
computer support department for help if needed.
For more information throughout this tool set: place your cursor over this cell

Enter the population of your region ==>

50,000

Prepared by the Rocky Mountain Poison & Drug Center - Denver Health, Wood Associates Corporation, and Lester Bromley.

For assistance, comments, or problems with the tool set, contact Daniel Salazar at 301-427-1248 or dsalazar@ahrq.gov
Funded under Contract No. 290-00-0014 AHRQ Task Order No. 6 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (www.ahrq.gov). AHRQ Version 1.0

INSTRUCTIONS: Enter information in the Enter/Change Data column as directed by the instructions for each step. Entering these values will result in specific
comments (in green text) or calculations (in yellow boxes) in the last column. Underlined text indicates a hyperlink to the definition.
Step
#1
#2

#3

#4

Instructions
Population from Instructions Page

Enter / Change Data

==================>

Determine public's perception of risk:

-High (up to 15% may need to contact you)
-Medium (up to 10% may need to contact
you)
-Low (up to 5% may need to
contact you)
Enter percentage here
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Select all of the communication channels that
the public may use to contact your agency to get
information:
Select Y (yes) or N (no) from dropdown list>>>

5%

PHONE (a primary means of communication for all)

E-MAIL (a rapidly growing means of communication)

This requires staff and other resources

Y
N

WEB SITE (40% of public accesses the Internet daily)

FAX (Decreasing in use as means of communication)

This mostly requires non-staff resources

VOICE SELF-SERVICE (See Interactive Voice Response)

This mostly requires non-staff resources

70%
5%
10%
0%
15%

Enter expected length of event in days >>>>>

7

#7

For an event of this magnitude oneon-one communication should be

effective at addressing specific
questions from the public

= Population Able to Contact You

(minus children below age 15)

This requires staff and other resources

For each communication channel marked 'Y,' enter the percentage of

the public likely to use it when contacting your agency:

Enter Percentage>>>
Enter Percentage>>>
Enter Percentage>>>
Enter Zero>>>
Enter Percentage>>>

#6

35,000

Y
Y

Enter percentages below and total MUST = 100%>>>>>>>>>>

#5

Comments, Notes, and Calculations

50,000

100%
PHONE
E-MAIL
WEB SITE
FAX
VOICE SELF-SERVICE
Long-duration events can change over time,
needing systems to keep information current

Enter total hours per day your agency will be

available to answer contacts from public >>>

24

The public often needs access to health

information from at least 7am to 11pm

Enter days per week your agency will be

available to answer contacts from public >>>

The public often needs access to health

information 7 days per week

Potential Contacts Per Channel

1,225
= Phone Contacts
88
= E-Mail Contacts
175
= Web Site Contacts
0
= Fax Contacts
263
= Voice Self-Service Contacts
188

= Average Contacts Per Day

Requiring Staffing Resources

= Average Contacts Per Hour

Requiring Staffing Resources

^ Above numbers represent the potential surge of

contacts needing staff to respond (see Note below)

Note: The average contacts per day and hour are minimal and need assumptions. It is unlikely that the actual public need will be distributed evenly over your period of operations. Other tools will
try to estimate the peak demand you may face and provide estimates on how to address that demand with adequate staff and facilities.

INSTRUCTIONS: Enter information in the Enter/Change Data column as directed by the instructions for each step. Entering these values will
result in specific comments (in green text) or calculations (in yellow boxes) in the last column. Underlined text indicates a hyperlink to the
definition.
Step

Instructions

Enter / Change Data Comments, Notes, and Calculations

#1

Daily Contact Volume Requiring

===============>
Staffing Resources

#2

Hourly Contact Volume

===============>
Requiring Staffing Resources
Based on the above volumes, the following has been
calculated:

#3

Busy Hour Contacts ===============>

#4

#5

Enter new values or accept default values for these

contact variables:
260
Average Talk Time (ATT)
After Call Work (ACW) Time
33

#7

28

These values are from the Contact Surge Calculator, based on

population and event information entered. To change, return to that
worksheet and edit the inputs.

Potential contacts during busiest hour

(represents 15% of daily
contact volume)

seconds (default = 260 seconds)

seconds (default = 33 seconds)

Default value is based on industry standards

Default value is based on industry standards

Based on the above values, the following has been

calculated:
Average Handle Time (AHT) ===============>
Blocked Calls ===============>
80%
Service Level

#6

188

Based on the above values, the following has been

calculated for staffing and other resource needs:
Staffing ===============>
Other Resources ===============>

293
10%
percent in 20 seconds

#VALUE!
#VALUE!

seconds
percent

Full Time Equivalent (FTE) Required

Trunks Required

There are ways to attempt to decrease above numbers You indicated an ability to provide information to the public through self-service
of staff and trunks using technology:
communication modes and thereby reduced staffing and other resources
Voice Self-Service and Web Site
Contacts (from Contact Surge ===============>
Calculator)

438

You have the potential to utilize self-service communication modes for

providing information to the public. Maximizing this usage can further
reduce your staffing needs.

INSTRUCTIONS: Enter information in the Enter/Change Data column as directed by the instructions for each step. Entering these values will
result in specific comments (in green text) or calculations (in yellow boxes) in the last column. Underlined text indicates a hyperlink to the
definition.
Step
#1

#2
#3

Instructions

Enter / Change Data

Select an "X" in the dropdown list next to the items below

needed for establishing your contact center:
Building
Furnishings
Cubicles
Desktop
Parking
Cafeteria
Workforce
X
Management / Overhead
X
Workforce Training
X
Management Training
X
Determine Potential Investment Required ============>
See Surge Options
Explore Alternatives To Investment>>>
Matrix Tab

Comments, Notes, and Calculations

Potential Cost of
Each Item
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
#VALUE!
#VALUE!
#VALUE!
#VALUE!
#VALUE! TOTAL

Caution: These cost assumptions are based on amortization over a 1-year period and are for demonstration purposes only. These indicate potential costs for a contact
center and demonstrate the impact of different variables and services. Only a fixed, firm bid from a vendor can determine actual capital investment costs.

INSTRUCTIONS: Enter information in the Enter/Change Data column as directed by the instructions for each step. Entering these values will
result in specific comments (in green text) or calculations (in yellow boxes) in the last column. Underlined text indicates a hyperlink to the
definition.
Step Instructions
#1

#2
#3

Enter / Change Data

Select an "X" in the dropdown list next to the items below

needed for establishing your contact center:
Private Branch Exchange (PBX)
X
Automatic Call Distribution (ACD)
X
Headsets & Telephones
Call Reporting
X
Toll Free Network (Long Distance / Local)
Trunks (T1 Circuits)
X
Workforce Management (WFM) System
Peripheral Equipment (i.e.Voice Mail)

Voice Response Unit

Computer Telephony (Multi-Channel Solution)

Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS)
Local Area Network (LAN) Router

Routing Table
X
Training for System Administrator
X
Determine Potential Investment Required ============>
See Surge Options
Matrix Tab
Explore Alternatives To Investment>>>

Comments, Notes, and Calculations

Potential Cost
for Each Item
$248,630.00
$164,226.00
$0.00
$91,663.00
$0.00
#VALUE!
$0.00
$0.00

You will need a PBX and ACD to efficiently distribute calls

You will need a PBX and ACD to efficiently distribute calls

You will need a Voice Response Unit and software based on your
selection of Voice Self-Service in the Contact Surge Calculator
$170,150.00
tab
$476,883.82
$0.00
$0.00

You will need a Multi-Channel Solution based on your selection of

Email in the Contact Surge Calculator tab

You will need a Multi-Channel Solution based on your selection of

Web in the Contact Surge Calculator tab
#VALUE!
$15,225.00
#VALUE! TOTAL

Caution: These cost assumptions are based on amortization over a 1-year period and are for demonstration purposes only. These indicate potential costs for a contact center
and demonstrate the impact of different variables and services. Only a fixed, firm bid from a vendor can determine actual capital investment costs.

INSTRUCTIONS: Enter information in the Enter/Change Data column as directed by the instructions for each step. Entering these values will result in specific comments (in
green text) or calculations (in yellow boxes) in the last column. Underlined text indicates a hyperlink to the definition.
Step
#1

Instructions

Enter / Change Data Comments, Notes, and Calculations

Select "Y" (yes) or "N" (no) from the dropdown list for each question in the following three categories to
determine options for establishing your contact center:

#VALUE!
#VALUE!

Calculated Staffing Needs, Full-Time Equivalents

Calculated Trunk Requirements

- Staffing & Other Resources

Do you have adequate personnel (or volunteers) to maintain a contact center for the
estimated event duration?

Do you have other staff to support the operations of the contact center (management,
training, data analysis, facilities, and systems support)?

1 You have adequate staffing and resources to operate an

emergency contact center

N
Y

0
1
3

Do you have someone within your organization who can manage the operation (especially
someone with call/contact center experience)?
Do you have adequate funding to support the operations of the contact center?
- Processes & Procedures
Do you have a management structure in place for both normal and emergency situations
(concurrently) to support the contact center?

Do you have processes for the preparation, collection, storage, retrieval, dissemination,
and reporting of information?

Do you have processes to measure consistency of information and effectiveness of its

delivery (quality control)?

You have adequate processes & procedures to operate an

1 emergency contact center

Do you understand the needs of special populations (non-English speakers, the disabled,
the elderly, children, etc.) in your service area?

1
5

Do you have a plan to work with other agencies and the media to ensure consistent
information is being delivered to the public?
- Systems & Facilities
Do you have a disaster recovery plan for utility (power, water) or telephone /
communication outages or other systems failures?
Do you have adequate technology (telephones, computers, telephone lines, etc.) to
support the contact center?
Do you have systems to collect contact data and document information provided?
Do you have adequate physical facilities (space, seating, etc.)?
Do you have alternatives beyond telephone to communicate with response partners (CDC,
hospitals, 911, etc.) during an emergency?

#VALUE! Calculated Capital & Technology Investment

Y
Y
Y

1 You have adequate systems and facilities to operate an

1 emergency contact center
1

1
5

ABANDONED CALLS

Calls answered by equipment but never reaching a telephone

specialist because the caller hung up (usually due to a long
wait), caller interruption, or recognition of a misdialed call.

AFTER CALL WORK (ACW)

TIME

Time required by a telephone specialist after a call to complete

the record of that call and to arrange for fulfillment
implementation. This work might be completing an order form or
complaint form and sending it to the appropriate department.

AGENT

A general term for someone who handles telephone calls in a

call center. Other common names for the same job include, but
are not limited to: operator, attendant, representative, customer
service representative, customer support representative,
telephone sales representative, technical support
representative, telephone salesperson, and telemarketer.

AUTOMATIC CALL
DISTRIBUTION (ACD)

Incorporates both functional and informational advantages for

contact center managers, such as automatic and equitable
distribution of incoming calls, and queuing of calls. It also
provides real time management information to determine the
operational efficiency and effectiveness and to determine the
number of specialists and network service lines necessary for
the center to achieve efficiency and effectiveness objectives.

AUTOMATIC NUMBER
IDENTIFICATION (ANI)

A term used in the United States and Canada. The digits that
arrive at the same time as a telephone call that tell the
telephone number of the person calling. In general, ANI is the
service provided by a long distance service.
ANI has big benefits for call centers. By gathering the digits
sent, and doing a database lookup, agents can receive a
screen of information on the caller along with the voice call.
Centers report this saves them up to 20 seconds per call, since
the agent doesn't have to ask for and enter a name or account
number, then wait for the database to respond during the call.
Those 30 seconds per call have a significant impact on staffing
needs and telephone service charges. ANI can also serve as a
security ID for various applications.

AVAILABILITY

The amount of time an agent or agent group is available to

receive calls. The amount of time they are logged-in, at their
desks, but not on a call. A statistic tracked by some call center
management software programs. A similar term is also used for
computers or telephone systems for the time they are turned on
and available for processing calls or transactions.

AVERAGE CALL DURATION The amount of time the average call lasts. Calculated by
dividing the total number of minutes of conversation by the
number of conversations.

AVERAGE HANDLE TIME

(AHT)

An Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) statistic that tells how

long, on average, an agent spends on each call. ACDs
calculate this differently. Some include after call work time,
some don't.

AVERAGE TALK TIME (ATT) An Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) statistic. The average
amount of time the agent spends talking to the caller. Usually
timed from when the call arrives at the agent station to the time
it is released by the agent.
AVERAGE WAIT TIME

The length of time a caller must spend on hold before an ACD

can find an available agent to take the call. Most ACDs will
keep track of this statistic. Obviously, the shorter the time the
better, especially if your company is paying for the call (such as
an 800 or 888 call). Minute reductions in the average wait time
can add up to huge savings in toll-free service usage when
multiplied by thousands of calls.

BLOCKED CALLS

Calls that are not completed because a customer receives a

busy signal. See BLOCKING.
When a telephone call cannot be completed it is said that the
call is "blocked." Blocked calls are different from calls that are
not completed because the called number is busy. This is
because numbers that are busy are not the fault of the
telephone switching and transmission network.

BLOCKING

BROADCAST FAX

A feature of many fax machines and fax boards that lets the
user send the text of a single fax to a large number of recipients
using a master list of names and numbers. It is useful for
marketing, public relations, and for distributing information to
salespeople in the field. Some fax service companies let
subscribers keep lists on file or upload them, and the fax text,
via modem.

BUSY

In use. "Off-hook." There are slow busies and fast busies.

Slow busies are when the phone at the other end is busy or offhook. You hear the buzz 60 times a minute. Fast busies (120
times a minute) occur when the network is congested with too
many calls.

BUSY HOUR

The hour of the day during which a call center handles the most
call traffic. Knowing when a center's busy hour occurs (and
what the call volume is when it occurs) is vital for staff
scheduling, traffic engineering, and equipment purchases.
The idea is if you create enough capacity to carry that "busy
hour" traffic, you will be able to carry all other traffic. In
actuality, one never designs capacity sufficient to carry 100% of
the busy hour traffic. That would be too expensive. So, the
argument then comes down to, "What percentage of my peak
busy or busy hour calls am I prepared to block?" This
percentage might be as low as half of one percent or as high as
10%. Typically, it's between 2% and 5%, depending on the
business and the cost to that business - in lost sales, etc. - of
blocking calls.

CALL

A connection providing for a communications between two or

more simultaneously present users for the purpose of
exchanging information.

CALL ABANDONS

Also called ABANDONED CALLS. Call Abandons are calls that

are dropped by the calling party before their intended
transaction is completed. The call may be dropped at various
points in the process (i.e., while on hold, while dialing, etc.). The
point in the call at which the call is abandoned will have varying
impacts on a telephone system. Many callers will hang up as
soon as they realize they've reached an automated system and
not a person. For systems that expend significant energy in
setting up to answer a call, a large percentage of call abandons
can negatively impact the call capacity of the system.

CALL ACCOUNTING
SYSTEM

An automated system for recording information about telephone

calls, organizing that information and upon being asked,
preparing reports - printed or to disk. The physical system itself
consists of a computer, a data storage medium, software, and
some mechanical method of attaching itself to a telephone
system.
The information which it records (or captures) about telephone
calls typically includes the extension from which the call is
coming; which number it is calling (local or long distance); which
circuit is used for the call (AT&T, WATS, MCI, etc.); when the
call started; how long the call lasted; and for what purpose the
call was made (which client? which project?).
A call accounting system might also include information on
incoming calls; which trunk was used; where the call came from
(if ANI or interactive voice response was used); which extension
took the call; if it was transferred (and to where) and how long it
took.
There are nine basic uses for call accounting systems in the call
center:
1.
Controlling Telephone Abuse.
2.
Controlling Telephone Misuse.
3.
Allocating telephone calling costs among departments and
divisions.
4.
Sharing and resale of long distance and local phone calls,
as in a hotel/motel, hospital, shared condominium, etc.
5.
Personnel evaluation and motivation.
6.
Network optimization. Two fancy words for figuring which
is the best combination of a PTT, MCI, AT&T, Sprint (etc.) lines.
And which is the best combination of all the various services
each offer.
7.
Phone system diagnostics. Is the phone system working
as well as it should? Are all the lines working?
8.
Long distance bill verification.
9.
Tracing Calls.

CALL CENTER

A place where calls are placed or received in high volume for

the purpose of communicating with customers, vendors, or
employees. Typical business processes supported include
sales, marketing, customer service, telemarketing, technical
support, or other specialized business activity. One early
definition described a call center as a place of doing business
by phone that combined a centralized database with an
automatic call distribution system. That's close, but it's more
than that, it is the integration of automation and telephony into
business processes to both optimize business processes and
provide better service to customers.

CALL DATA

Call data refers to any information about a phone call that is

passed by a switch to an attached computer system. Call data
is usually used by the computer telephony application to
process the call more intelligently.
Call data almost always includes what number dialed the call
(ANI) and/or what number was called. More complex call data
links used for "PBX integration" may also indicate why the call
was presented (such as forwarded-on-busy-busy), or tell what
trunk the call is coming in on.

CALL MANAGEMENT

Process of selecting, based on detailed information of

telephone activity and costs, the optimum mix of terminal
equipment, network services, and staffing to achieve maximum
productivity and service from a call center.

CALL MANAGEMENT
SYSTEM (CMS)
CALL PRIORITY

This is the AT&T name for their inbound call distribution

management reporting package.
A term for the value assigned to an incoming call, from highest
priority to lowest.
The movement of a call to its intended point, through all its
automated twists and turns. Call processing is the set of
instructions that are used to deal with a call, and the act of
dealing with the call. You more often hear of a call processing
system (read: switch, plus its software) than the "process" itself.
The act of call processing is roughly equivalent to switching,
except that call processing implies that the connection is
switched according to those pre-set instructions.

CALL PROCESSING

CALL RECORD

Information about a call (extension or position, length, time ofday, number dialed) recorded by a PBX or ACD. These records
are the basis of call center management software and
telecommunications management software systems.

CALL REPORTING

In an outbound environment, detailed accounting of

telemarketing activity measured by agent, group of agents,
campaign, region, or other key factors. Similar reports are also
important for keeping tabs on inbound marketing. Good
reporting capabilities are a critical feature for both dialers and
ACDs.

CALL ROUTING

Literally, the list of choices a user sets up within an ACD for

where to send the incoming calls. You might define a path for
calls that last a certain amount of time, or define options - if a
caller presses "O," send the call to an operator, if a caller
presses "1" send the caller to technical support. The routing
table will reflect the different campaigns that are ongoing,
enabling the ACD to send calls to the right agent groups or
departments. Within the ACD, you can use more sophisticated
criteria to direct the call, like skills calls that originate from a
particular country are sent to agents with certain language
abilities. Parsing incoming ANI or DNIS data for routing is
increasingly important.

CALL VOLUME

The number of calls that come into a call center in a given

period.
On an incoming phone call, the information you get that lets you
know where the call is coming from before you answer it - that
is, the telephone number of the person calling you. Caller ID is
the consumer "brand name" for the local phone company
variety of this service. The calling party's phone number is
passed to your phone between the first and second ring
signaling an incoming call. The simplest Caller ID devices show
you the originating phone number of the incoming call. If you
have the appropriate software, though, you can match that
phone number with a caller's name (and other information
straight from your database).

CALLER ID

In fact, the more important variety of Caller ID (to call centers) is

provided by the long distance carriers in the form of ANI automatic number identification, chiefly on 800 calls. It delivers
the calling party's telephone number, which can then be looked
up in your company's database.
CALLING NUMBER DISPLAY The screen on your phone (or attached peripheral device) that
shows you ANI or Caller ID data on incoming phone calls - the
phone number, or the name of who's calling.
CAPACITY

The information carrying ability of a telecommunications facility.

What the "facility" is determines the measurement. You might
measure a data capacity in bits per second. You might
measure a switch's capacity in the maximum number of calls it
can switch in 1 hour, or the maximum number of calls it can
keep in conversation simultaneously. You might measure a
coaxial cable's capacity in bandwidth.

CARRIER

A company which provides communications circuits. Carriers

are split into "private" and "common." A private carrier can
refuse you service. A "common" carrier can't. Most of the
carriers in our industry - your local phone company, AT&T, MCI,
Sprint, etc. - are common carriers. Common carriers are
regulated. Private carriers are not.

CENTRAL OFFICE (CO)

Telephone company facility where subscribers' lines are joined

to switching equipment for connecting other subscribers to each
other, locally and long distance. The term central office is also
referred to as public exchange.

COMPUTER TELEPHONY

A term that describes the process of applying computer

intelligence to telecommunications devices, especially switches
and phones. The term covers many technologies, including
computer-telephone integration through the local area network,
interactive voice processing, voice mail, automated attendant,
voice recognition, text-to-speech, fax, simultaneous voice data,
signal processing, video conferencing, predictive dialing,
audiotext, collaborative computing, and traditional telephone
call switching.

COMPUTER TELEPHONY
INTEGRATION (CTI)

A term for connecting a computer (single workstation or file

server on a local area network) to a telephone switch and
having the computer issue the switch commands to move calls
around. The classic application for CTI is in call centers.
Example: A call comes in. That call carries some form of caller
ID or ANI. The switch "hears" the calling number, strips it off,
and sends it to the computer. The computer does a lookup and
sends back the switch instructions on what to do with the call. It
might send the call to a specialized agent or maybe just to the
agent the caller dealt with last time.

CONVERSATION TIME

The time spent on a conversation from the time the person at

the other end picks up to the time of hang up. Conversation
time plus dialing, searching, and ringing time equal the time a
circuit will be used during a call.

COST-PER-CALL ANALYSIS A measure of the profitability of a call center, often expressed in

reports generated by ACDs. Cost-per-call takes into account
the cost of labor, phone service, and equipment reflected
against revenue generated. Ibis measure is used more and
more as an alternative to "performance measurement" that
accounts more strictly for the length of time spent on calls.
CUSTOMER SERVICE

Provides, usually in response to a customer initiated call,

information such as locations of retail dealer product
information, technical support, complaint handling, order status,
service information, or emergency response.

DATABASE MANAGEMENT
SYSTEM

A computer program (or programs) that lets you create,

maintain, and access a database. Some popular database
management systems for PCs are dbase III and IV, Paradox,
and Foxpro. There are other database management systems
for other types of computers. Don't confuse the database (the
actual information or data on your computer) with the database
management system (the software that controls it). A database
management system is called DBMS for short.

DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE

Formerly known as "Information." DA is provided by the local

telephone company. In most states, the local phone company
charges for this service. Most local phone companies will give
a caller the person's address, as well as the person's phone
number if the caller asks for it. A caller can usually only get two
numbers per phone call. Directory assistance is an important
resource for updated telephone lists and skip tracing. (People
often move within the same city or town.) Directory assistance
databases are now available online and on CD-ROM through
major list and list processing vendors. Using these products
can be less expensive and less time consuming than calling
directory assistance for every two numbers that need checked.

ELECTRONIC MAIL

Process of sending messages electronically from one computer

terminal to another.
A local area network system that operates over twisted wire and
coaxial cable at up to 10 megabits per second.
The first three digits of a local telephone number. All telephone
numbers with the same exchange are served by the same
central office. With the right software (or a very large list) you
can find out a company's location (city, state, etc.) if you know
the area code and exchange.

ETHERNET
EXCHANGE

FAX-ON-DEMAND

A fax system that lets a caller select and retrieve documents

using a combination of IVR and fax technologies.

FAX MACHINE

A device that sends or receives a copy (a "facsimile") of printed

material to or from a remote machine over standard phone
lines.

FAX SERVER

A computer with one or more fax boards installed and hooked

up to a local area network whose primary purpose is to act as a
fax station for all the users on the network. It sends faxes from
any PC on the net, as well as receives them and prints them out
on a dedicated laser printer. Many fax servers also include
voice boards that add fax-on-demand capability for people
calling from the outside.

FULL-TIME EQUIVALENT
(FTE)

A way of measuring staff levels, especially for budgets and

scheduling. It simply means the number of staff-hours required
has been divided as though each person is working a full-time
schedule. It tells you what your staffing needs would be if your
needs were covered only by full-time agents.

HEADSET

A telephone device that replaces the handset (or receiver). All

headsets consist of an ear piece and a microphone - but these
elements can be arranged in a variety of ways. Now made of
plastic, headsets are light and comfortable.

HOLD

To temporarily leave a phone call without disconnecting it. You

can return to the call at any time, sometimes from other
extensions. While the terms on-hold and in queue are in many
ways interchangeable, putting a call on hold infers a passive
state. It's already routed and waiting to be activated again.
When a call is in an ACD queue, many things are happening to
route the call to the next available agent. The call is active and
waiting to be routed.

HOLDING TIME

The total time beginning from picking up the handset, dialing a

call, waiting for an answer, speaking on the phone, to hanging
up and replacing the handset in its cradle.

HOTLINE

Customer service application that allows a customer to call a

specified number to express their concerns or to seek
information.

IDLE

Not busy. Used to describe a telephone or telephone agent in a

call center.
When a potential customer calls, writes, or comes to your office
and asks for information on your product or service.
A phone system with enhanced call routing features that
support the most complex of call center applications. They are
particularly attractive for sites requiring full integration with
administrative business processes or that need to be networked
into the corporations communications network. They also offer
the opportunity for small centers to expand.

INQUIRY
INTEGRATED ACD/PBX

INTERACTIVE VOICE
RESPONSE (IVR)

There are several ways to think about interactive voice

response. It is a system that is connected to a computer
system that lets you enter information from that system either
through a telephone keypad or the spoken word. It also may
allow applications to be processed in the IVRs system off
loading processing requirements in the host computer.

LOCAL AREA NETWORK

(LAN)

A system connecting a set of computers and peripherals over

short distances. It allows users at multiple computers to use
the same files and share printers. A LAN will typically link
devices in a single building, but it can stretch as far as about 10
kilometers. Larger than a LAN is a MAN (Metropolitan Area
Network) and WAN (Wide Area Network), which have different
properties.

METROPOLITAN AREA
NETWORK (MAN)
MULTIMEDIA

A network that connects sites a maximum of 50 kilometers apart

at speeds of 1 to 200 megabits per second.
The ability to use a variety of access methods to the call center,
including voice, Internet, or data and video.
Background music heard when someone is put on hold, letting
them know they are still connected.

MUSIC-ON-HOLD

PBX/ACD

A PBX with automatic call distributor (ACD) features. This

arrangement can work well for smaller through the largest of
call centers. It's also a great way to try out the idea of an ACD
or call center. If your PBX has this feature, use it. An ACD takes
a lot of processing power. If your call center grows too large
(just how large will depend on your PBX and a host of other
things), the ACD feature can bog things down for the whole
system. Make sure that the system has a risk processor and a
distributed architecture to allow unimpaired growth.

PEAK HOUR

When used with an automatic call distributor, the peak hour is

when the number of calls coming into your center are at their
highest level. ACDs track and report on calls by hour. Some
allow information to be tracked in either smaller or larger time
increments.

PEAK LOAD

A higher than average quantity of traffic. Peak load is usually

expressed as a 1-hour period, often the busiest hour of the
busiest day of the year. See BUSY HOUR.

PEAK PERIODS

Times when the number of calls coming into a call center is at

its highest level. You can adjust ACDs to respond to peaks by
adding more agents to busy agent groups if you use the MIS
reports to track them, or ACD forecasting software to predict
when those peaks might occur.

PERIPHERAL EQUIPMENT

Equipment not integral to, but working with, a phone system.

An example might be a printer or television screen on which
calling traffic statistics are displayed or a voice mail system.
Lucent Technologies once called PBX peripheral equipment
"applications processors," because they process specific
applications.

PREDICTIVE DIALING

A method of making outbound calls that uses advanced

software to estimate the correct number of calls to place, and
the number of agents that will be able to handle those calls.

PRIVATE BRANCH
EXCHANGE (PBX)

A PBX is an intelligent switching system, capable of allowing

users to dial out without operator assistance and often to
receive calls directly without operator assistance, which brings
us to the call center. When most people think of call centers,
they think of large rooms filled with people tied together by an
ACD network and thousands of lines. That's the popular
picture, but it's not the whole picture. Small call centers
outnumber large ones. The fastest, easiest way to start a call
center at your business is to take the people who answer calls,
take orders, call customers, etc., and link them on a data
network. Then, add ACD features to your PBX (see PBX/ACD)
using one of many recently developed software applications,
and you can simulate the big-business look and feel with smallbusiness flexibility. Building call centers out of high
performance PBXs is one of the fastest growing segments of
the call center market.

QUALITY OF SERVICE

Sometimes used as a telephone-carrier equivalent to SERVICE

LEVEL. To a telephone carrier, it means a measure of the
telephone service quality provided to a subscriber.

QUEUE

A holding area for calls waiting to be answered in the order in

which they were received. Calls in a queue may have different
priority levels, in which case, calls with a higher priority are
answered first.

QUEUE MANAGEMENT

The process by which the switch, or the network, or any

decision-making entity, lines up calls (and other "transactions"
like faxes and IVR requests) and chooses the order in which
those transactions occur. Managing the queue involves a
graceful combination of randomness (you never know what the
caller will do), prioritization (some callers may be more
important than others, and with the proper tools in place you
can know who they are), and pre-defined choices (for example,
calls for service can stay in queue longer than call for sales, or
vice versa).

ROUTING TABLE

1.
Incoming Phone Calls: A routing table is a user-definable
list of steps which are instructions dealing with an incoming call.
Ideally, these steps should be addressed and the call treatment
begun before the call is answered. A routing table should
consist of minimum steps that include agent groups, voice
response devices, announcements (delay and informational)
music on hold, intraflow and interflow steps, and route dialing
(machine based call forwarding). A significant issue in the
structure of routing tables is "look-back" capability, where no
single previously interrogated resource is abandoned by the
system (i.e., an agent group is ignored, even though an agent is
now available, because the ACD does not consider previous
steps in the routing table).

2.
Outgoing Phone Calls: For a specific calling site, this table
lists the long distance routing choices for each location to be
dialed. There may be only one choice (route) listed for some or
all destinations, or there may be several choices for some
destinations. (It depends on how many outgoing fines and trunk
groups you have.) If there are several choices, then they will be
ranked by some criteria (least cost, best quality, etc.).
3.
In data communications, a routing table is a table in a
router or some other inter-networking device that keeps track of
routes (and, in some cases, metrics associated with those
routes) to particular network destinations.
SCHEDULING

Making the timetable of agent hours and shifts for your call
center. Takes into account vacation days, breaks, training time,
lengths of shifts, and forecasting information. A call center
software management package (also known as workforce
management software) helps you do this.

SCHEDULING SOFTWARE

Often used to mean the same thing as "call center management

software," scheduling software is actually one function in a
complete call center management software package.
Scheduling software uses historical records of past call traffic to
create a staff schedule for some future day, week, or month. It
assumes that similar periods will have similar needs.

SERVER

A server is a shared computer on a local area network that can

be as simple as a regular PC set aside to handle print requests
to a single printer. It may be used as a repository and distributor
of data.

SERVICE LEVEL

Usually expressed as a percentage of a statistical goal. For

example, if your goal is an average speed of answer of 100
seconds or less, and 80% of your calls are answered in 100
seconds or less, then your service level is 80%. Call centers in
different industries have vastly different criteria for measuring
successful service. Clearly, a catalog retailer has a vastly lower
stake in the outcome of any one call than a cruise line does.
Each industry builds their own call center metrics to reflect that.

SUPERVISOR

The person responsible for regulating call flow in and out of a

group of agents. On a network, the person whose job it is to
keep the system up and running.

TALK TIME

The length of time agents spend placing or answering calls (as

opposed to the time between calls that they spend updating
records, sending out literature, or going to the bathroom). In
outbound call environments, where agents dial out manually,
typical talk time is close to 20 minutes per hour.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS
TELEWORKER

Electronic transmission of audio, video or data information.

A person who works from home or some place distant from the
company's office. A teleworker may send completed work in,
and pick new work up, via a modem in a PC. A teleworker may
also be on the phone at home answering calls on behalf of the
company, and entering the results of those calls (i.e.,
reservations on airlines, orders for catalogs) on a PC connected
by phone lines to the company. A teleworker may use one
phone line, like an ISDN BRI line or simply use two analog
phone lines - one for talking on and one for PC's data. Or, a
teleworker may simply use one analog phone line and a
protocol such as VoiceView. Call centers are increasingly
relying on Teleworkers (also known as telecommuters or
"agents-at-home") as a way to keep from being overloaded
during unforeseen peaks in call volume.

TOLL FREE NETWORK

Inward telephone service allowing callers to call without charge

or operator intervention. The call recipient pays for the call.

TRUNK

A communication line between two switching systems.

Switching systems typically include equipment in a central office
(the telephone company) and your customer-based equipment
(PBX or ACD). A trunk with 24 channels is commonly called a
T1.

TRUNK CAPACITY

Number of outgoing or incoming circuits connecting your site to

the telephone company.
A battery which provides power to your phone system when the
main AC power fails especially during, blackouts and
brownouts. Hospitals, brokerage companies, airlines, and hotel
reservation services must have battery backup because of the
integral importance of their phone systems to their business.

UNINTERRUPTED POWER
SUPPLY (UPS)

VOICE RESPONSE UNIT

(VRU)

A term that can refer either to an interactive voice response

unit, an automated attendant, or a simple "play a message and
pass the call on" unit. The term is commonly used in call
centers to mean the automated voice system that greets the
caller before the caller gets to a live agent. In some cases, this
is an IVR system that deals with the entire transaction. In other
cases, it is an IVR system that prompts the caller for an
identification number, pulls up a customer record, then routes
the call based on that information, and presents both call and
information to the agent.

WORKFORCE
MANAGEMENT (WFM)

Call center workforce management is the art and science of

having the right number of agents, at the right times, to answer
an accurately forecasted volume of incoming calls at the
desired service level.