Contact Center Needs for Staffing

The goal of practically every contact center across the country is to provide a positive customer experience. This needs to be achieved while also operating the contact center as efficiently as possible. However, achieving this goal requires workforce managers to ensure their operation has the proper level of staffing on a daily basis. This can seem like a daunting task, but with the right data reporting metrics, it doesn’t have to be. These four metrics can help with proper scheduling of staffing needs:

  • Queue metrics
  • Call volume metrics
  • Real-time status
  • Occupancy

Metrics for Proper Staffing - Queue Time - Man on Phone

1. Queue Metrics

These metrics are strong indicators of the customer experience your contact center provides, as well as whether there is a need for additional employees. Important queue metrics include average queue time and longest queue time.

Average queue time is the average amount of time customers wait for a representative to answer their call. This metric is calculated by dividing the total amount of wait time in queues by the total number of answered calls.

On the other hand, longest queue time is the longest amount of time a customer waits for their call to be answered. Long queue times compared to the industry standard can indicate a need for more employees.

An effective solution for reducing queue time is the right contact center software with smart escalation. It’s a great way to monitor and work on improving your average queue time.

Contact Center Metrics for Proper Staffing - Call Volume - People on Global Map

2. Call Volume Metrics

Call volume metrics include current call volume and projected volume. These metrics are extremely helpful in determining whether or not your current staffing is at the appropriate level.

Current call volume is the total number of calls a contact center receives within a given time period. This metric is typically measured in multiple time intervals – including day, week and month. It provides vital insights into call handling, especially when it’s associated with other metrics. For example, in certain contact center environments, pairing call volume with total sales closed helps determine your agent’s effectiveness in working with customers.

Projected volume is the number of calls you expect your contact center to receive in the future. By accurately forecasting projected call volume, workforce management can easily determine the resources their contact center needs to operate most effectively. That means, projected volume can help establish an accurate labor budget.

3. Real-Time Status

An agent’s real-time status tells you how often your agents are on a call, as opposed to doing other tasks such as talking with customers, completing after-call work or taking a break. This metric is calculated by dividing the time an agent is on a call by the agent’s total time on duty.

The importance of agent status is often overlooked, but a high percentage of agents in a “not-ready status” could indicate a low overall call volume and potential overstaffing. It could also indicate inefficiency with that individual agent, especially if the not-ready status lasts for an extended period of time frequently.

Contact Center employees - Occupancy metric

4. Occupancy

Occupancy, or utilization, is the percentage of agents who are occupied with a customer. It’s calculated by dividing the time an agent spends on a call or in after-call work divided by the total time an agent is signed into the queue. An occupancy rate of 90 percent means agents are waiting for a call ten percent of the time when they’re in the queue.

Occupancy provides a high-level snapshot of how efficiently a contact center is using its resources. It generally increases as there are more agents on staff. However, in some cases, a high occupancy rate can lead to agent burnout and a high turnover rate. This is especially true if a contact center is understaffed and agents are required to work at maximum capacity all day, every day.

Improve Workplace Efficiency and Customer Experience By Tracking Contact Center Data

By keeping track of these four key metrics, you can improve the efficiency of your contact center. Make sure you are tracking these properly to allow your staffing decisions to be data-driven, not based on best guesses.

These four metrics only work if you have the right technology to help you track it. Aceyus’ data reporting tools provide you with actionable data in real-time and near real-time, which is critical for optimizing your contact center’s performance and staffing levels. Contact us today to learn more about how our suite of solutions can benefit your team.


These four metrics only work if you have the right technology to help you track it. Aceyus’ data reporting tools provide you with actionable data in real-time and near real-time, which is critical for optimizing your contact center’s performance and staffing levels. Contact us today to learn more about how our suite of solutions can benefit your team.

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Michelle Hernandez

Michelle Hernandez

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