MANAGERS & STAFF

DIRECTORS & VPs

EXECUTIVES

Call Centers: Organization Chart

Chief
Operating
Officer

EVP/SVP of Customer
Experience

Employee Name

Employee Name

Employee Name

Employee Name

Employee Name

Call Processing
(Inbound/Outbound)

Workforce
Management

IVR/VRU Management

Call Center Training &

Development

Call Center Technical

Support

The call processing

(inbound/outbound)
function handles calls
received and calls made
in the contact center,
routing them to the
appropriate department
or subject matter expert.

The workforce
management function is
responsible for
forecasting incoming call
volumes and related
workload and then
staffing the group
accordingly, as well as
monitoring call center
agents to ensure they are
KPIs
performing up to
Average Speed to Answer
company standards..

KPIs

Abandonment Rate
Average Handle Time (AHT)
First Contact Resolution
Rate

Common Job
Titles
Customer Service
Representative
Call Center Agent
Sales Support
Representative
Inside Sales
Representative
Account Executive

(ASA) Call
Call Occupancy Rate
Customer Satisfaction Rate

The IVR/VRU
Management function is
responsible for
configuring and
monitoring the usability
of interactive voice
response (IVR) systems
and forming strategy for
optimal use of the IVR
system.

The contact center

training and development
group is tasked with
developing programs to
ensure that call center
agents are properly
trained on the
program/product to
deliver optimum levels of
customer service.

The contact center

technical support group
is responsible for
addressing any internal
technical issues and
resolving any outages
related to hardware or
software used in the call
center..

KPIs

KPIs

KPIs

IVR/VRU Containment Rate

IVR/VRU Utilization Rate
Average Time Spent in IVR

Annual Representative
Training Hours
Employee Turnover Rate
Total Training Cost

Average Resolution Time

Tickets per Support
Employee
Total Tickets Closed

Common Job
Titles

Common Job
Titles

Common Job
Titles

Common Job
Titles

Staffing
Coordinator
Recruiting
Manager
Operations
Manager
Call Center
Supervisor/Manage
r
Call Center
Planning Analyst

Call Center Trainer

Customer Training
Instructor
Contact Center
Training Manager
Training &
Development
Specialist
Contact Center
Coaching
Specialist

Call Center
Technical Analyst
IT Service Center
Analyst
Call Center
Administrator
Call Center
Technician
Technical Specialist

IVR Developer
IVR Analyst
IVR Designer
IVR Call Flow
Designer
Application
Support Engineer

Customer
Customer

Contact Centers: Inbound Call Processing Workflow

Account manager verifies

customer identification via
other personal information

End Call

Customer call comes into

the answer queue

Services
Services Division
Division

No

Client verified by
IVR?

No

Yes

Account Manager asks the

customer the reason for the
call

Account Manager provides

answer to customers
inquiry

Transfer to another
department?

Yes

Account Manager contacts

the appropriate Senior
Manager for additional
information

Account Manager continues

to close the deal

Interactive voice response

(IVR) gathers customers
reason for calling

Account Manager updates

the appropriate systems

Yes

Advise customer about the

transfer of call and put
him/her on hold

Other
Other Departments
Departments

Escalation
requested?

Account Manager thanks

customer for holding and
transfers the call to the
representative

Customer provides account

number, name of caller, and
reason for call

Account Manager advises

customer that he or she will
follow with customer when
an answer is provided by
the Senior Manager

Account Manager escalates

the call according to the
escalation hierarchy

Account Manager offers

customer a particular
product he/she is eligible for

Does customer
accept offer?

No

Account Manager solves

the customers issue

Retirement
Retirement Specialist
Specialist Group
Group

Client
Client

Contact Centers: Customer Issue Resolution Workflow

Caller calls and navigates

through call routing prompts
to reach queue

Caller waits in queue until a

retirement representative
becomes available and is
then connected

Interactive Voice Response

(IVR) verifies the
identification of the caller

Retirement Rep identifies

the purpose of the call

Caller explains the reason

for the call and asks
questions or initiates a
request

Customer requests a
Retirement package?

Yes

Retirement Rep orders a

personalize Retirement Plan
Package for the customer

No

The caller has received

product X and has
questions

Retirement Rep answers all

the customers questions

Retirement Rep answers

any final questions from the
customer and updates
appropriate systems

Process View of the Call Center

Process
Inputs

Outputs

Inputs/Outputs customers calling for service/customers completed the call

Flow Units customers
Network of Activities and Buffers answering customers calls
Resources customer service agents (CSA), phone automated system
(PAS), etc.
Information Structure account management system, reference materials,
etc.

Call Center Competencies and Architecture

4 Dimensions for measuring the competence of the call center:

Process Cost
Process Flow Time
Process Flexibility
Process Quality.
Argentina call center focuses on the low cost.
Call center provides high-quality Spanish support.
Argentina call center process architecture is defined by the
types of resources (CSA, PAS, etc).
Call center falls somewhere along the spectrum between two
extremes (flow shop and job shop).
Flow shop fits better, as call center uses specialized
resources that perform limited tasks & produce large
volumes with high precision and speed.

Three Key Call Center

Measures

Flow Time = Time Customer spends:

In automated phone system
Waiting in the queue for an agent
Talking to an agent.
Ex: October Average PAS time is 46, Queue average waiting
time is 32 & handle time is 462 seconds.
T=540 seconds

Flow Rate = Number of customers that flow through a specific

point in the call center process per unit of time.
Inventory = Total number of customers present within call
center boundaries.
Ex: Argentina call center is 24/7 & call patterns are very
different.

Littles Law

Throughput = Average number of customers that flow through

the call center per unit of time.
Littles Law - Average inventory (=) Throughput (x) Average flow
time.
I=RxT

Ex:
We identified:
T = 540 seconds (9 min)
I = 27 customers.
Therefore, R = I/T
R = 27/9
R = 3 customers/minute

Call Center Flow, Delays and Queues

Customer

Capacit
y
Rp =
c/Tp

Arrival Rate
Ri

Number:
Time:
In:

Throughput

Customer

R = Min (Ri, Rp)

Ii

Ip

=I

Ti

Tp

=T

Queue + Service =Process

Call Center Process Attributes

Inflow Rate Ri = Average rate of customer arrivals per unit time.

In the Argentinean call center, Ri = 5

customers/minute
Processing Time Tp = Average time required by agent to process
the customer.
Tp = 462 (agent) + 46 (PAS) = 508 seconds
c = Number of agents in the resource pool
c = 36 agents in Argentina
Process capacity (Rp) = Total processing rate at which customers
are processed by agents in the resource pool.

Rp = c/Tp or Rp = 36/8.47 = 4.25 customers/minute

Buffer capacity (K) = Maximum number of customers that can
wait in queue.

Flow Rate-related Measures of Call Center

Capacity
Throughput rate (R) = Average rate at which customers flow
through the call center process
R = min (Ri, Rp)
In our case, Rp is smaller, so R = Rp = 4.25
Capacity utilization () = Average fraction of the resource pool
capacity that is occupied in processing customers
= R/Rp
In our case, R = Rp and = 1
Our resource pool is constantly busy processing customers.

Safety capacity (Rs) = Excess processing capacity available to

handle the customers inflows.
Rs = R p R i
In our case, Rs = 4.25 5 = -0.75
All the available capacity is busy processing arrivals.

Flow Time-related Measures of Customer

Delay
Average waiting time (Ti) = Time that a customer spends
in queue.
Ti = 32 seconds.
Average theoretical time = Average processing time of a
customer.
Tp = 462 seconds + 46 seconds (automated
system) = 508 seconds
Average flow time in the process (T) = Average time that a
customer spends waiting in queue & being served
T = Ti + Tp or T
508 + 32 = 540 seconds or 9 minutes
Flow time efficiency = Proportion of time that a customer
spends being served rather than waiting in queue
Tp / T = .94

Inventory-related Measures of Customer

Queues
Average queue length = Average number of
customers waiting for service
Ii = R x T i
Ii = 4.25 x 0.53 = 2.25 customers waiting for service

Average number of customers in service = Average inprocess inventory

Ip = R x T p
Ip = 4.25 x 8.47 = 35.99 customers in service

Average total number of customers in the process

I = I i + Ip
I = 2.25 + 35.99 = 38.24 customers in the process

Call Center Flow, Delays and Queues

Capacit
y
Rp =
c/Tp

Arrival Rate

Customer
5 customers/min

Throughput

Customer

4.25 customers/min

Number:

2.25

35.99

= 38.24

Time:

508

32

= 540 seconds

In:

Queue +

Service = Process

Performance Improvements
The following levers improved process performance:
Decrease variability in customer interarrival &
processing times.
Decrease capacity utilization (or increase safety
capacity) either by
Decreasing the arrival rate or increasing the unit
processing rate
Increasing the number of servers

Synchronize the available capacity with demand.

Managing Capacity
Capacity utilization ( = R /R ) can be reduced by
increasing average processing rate (R )
i

In order to increase processing rate (R = c/T ) we

recommended decreasing average processing time (T )
p

To achieve a decrease in processing time:

Identified that billing & escalated calls took longer to handle
in this call center vs. similar centers.
Thus recommended & implemented 2 separate hour
training segments
Billing prorates explanation
How to handle escalated calls

Key Performance Indicators

Service Measures
Accessibility
Blockage; hours of operation; abandons; selfservice availability

Speed of Service
Service level; average speed of answer; longest
delay in queue

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Key Performance Indicators

Quality Measures
Resolution Metrics
First call resolution rate; transfer rate

Call Handling Metrics

Etiquette; knowledge and competency; error
and rework rate; adherence to procedures

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Key Performance Indicators

Efficiency Measures
Resource Utilization
Agent occupancy; shrinkage; schedule efficiency
and adherence; availability

Contact Handling
Average handle time; after call work time; onhold time

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Key Performance Indicators

Profitability Measures
Sales
Conversion rate

Use of financial resources

Cost per call

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PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT PROCESS

Steps of Performance Measurement
1. Define the ideal
2. Measure current performance
3. Diagnose problem
4. Apply treatment
5. Monitor progress
6. Preventative maintenance
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PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT PROCESS

Defining Performance Standards
Quantitative standards
Qualitative standards

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QUALITY MEASUREMENT PROCESS

Call Monitoring Policy
Various approaches
A formal policy is important
Outline process
Describe tools and instruments to be used
Define how scores will be communicated

Quality Forms and Standards

22

QUALITY MEASUREMENT PROCESS

Call Calibration = process of
standardizing call evaluation and
scoring process
Scoring and Evaluation

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PERFORMANCE REPORTING
Reporting Methodologies
Build a framework that CLEARLY defines:

Purpose of each report

Recipients
Sources of data
Metric to be used

Must be relevant, accurate, and timely

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PERFORMANCE REPORTING
Communications channels for each
report should be considered
Communications strategies
Agents
Teams
Management
Funders
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