Calls Per Hour (CPH) is a metric used in the contact center that tells managers how productive our contact centers are based on the number of calls our agents receive in an hour. It is a helpful tool that allows us to track over-all productivity. However, getting an accurate picture of call center productivity can be a little tricky because there are various factors that can affect CPH.
FACTORS AFFECTING CALLS PER HOUR
- Shift changes
- Time away for agents
- Seasonal changes
- Agent training
Shift changes are transitions that happen every day in the contact center and can have a short-term impact on an agent’s CPH. For example, as a portion of the staff may be getting off work, those agents whose shift is continuing may find themselves a little busier at this time of the day as they cover more incoming calls during the shift transition. Once the agents are fully logged into their systems, the incoming calls can be more evenly dispersed. There are also times, during the course of a shift, that an agent may need to step away from their desk. Sometimes these are for personal reasons, and sometimes agents may find themselves having to take some extra time to service a customer; this can also impact the number of calls they are able to take in a given hour.
Seasonal changes are another factor that affects CPH. The holiday season is always a very busy season in the call center and most call centers will find that every agent’s CPH rises significantly during the busy shopping season.
Finally, there are also times when an agent will need to be trained and this can also impact their CPH. For example, when new agents join the team but are not yet ready to begin fielding calls, it falls on current agents to cover the surplus of incoming calls. Additionally, here at Centris, when we acquire a new client, we may take anywhere from 30-60 days to train our team on the new client products, services, and procedures. The time we invest in training will also directly impact CPH. It is common for us to divide our agents into two teams for training; while one team is being trained, the other team will be handling incoming calls. For the team handling the calls, their CPH will typically increase significantly.
Here at Centris, we like to get an overview of CPH over the course of 30 days. This helps our managers to monitor productivity or watch for patterns of agents who may consistently take a low number of calls during their shifts. If this pattern begins to emerge, that is a signal to our managers that this agent may benefit from more training in order to help them become more efficient at taking calls and resolving customer issues.
Here at Centris, CPH is just one more metric we use to help us continually improve the most important metric of all which is, the Customer Experience.
