service-level

Are You Prepared for Unpredicted Spikes in Call Volume? [Slideshare]

By Drew Wilkinson on October 24, 2019

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While today’s tech-savvy consumers are using more non-voice channels to connect with businesses, the act of picking up the phone to quickly and verbally resolve an issue (complex or otherwise) isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. The problem with this? According to an Accenture study, consumers’ top two complaints were:

Having to contact customer service multiple times; and
Being kept on hold for too long.

This consumer pet peeve is exacerbated by the fact that contact centers routinely face expected, and unexpected, spikes in call volume. Expected spikes can be a result of seasonality and promotional events, and unexpected spikes can stem from product recalls or natural disasters.

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New Survey on Service Level: 80/20 Is Still Going Strong

By Shai Berger on September 4, 2019

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When it comes to metrics for tracking call center performance, service level is the undeniable king of the hill. It’s a measure of how quickly calls are answered by agents. The most typical target is “80/20” which means 80% of calls are answered within 20 seconds.

Although many industry experts criticise this target – no one even knows exactly how it was originally chosen! — it continues to be the default. A new survey from Call Centre Helper confirms that the reign of 80/20 continues, but there is more to the story.

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Calling all Call Centers: Confessions of a Tech Support Agent

By James R. K. Dantow on April 16, 2019

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It’s our turn.

If you’ve had your eyes on the Fonolo blog for the past nine years, you know that in that time we have dedicated ourselves to bringing you news and views of all kinds that impact the customer service and contact center spaces. Sometimes, though, we have to turn the microphone towards ourselves and give voice to our own customer service happenings and the hard-working customer support contingent that buoys our own brand. Today, we welcome Fonolo Solutions Engineer James R. K. Dantow into the writers’ fold. In addition to talking ‘call-backs’, he has a confession to make.

— The Fonolo Team

My Fonolo story begins like many other engineers: I’ve always had a knack for computers.

Actually, I had a knack for technology in general. This was partially due to proximity: My father began his career in IT in the early 1990s at IBM. This meant many days of my childhood were spent in computer training rooms littered with state-of-the-art IBM Pentium II desktops, huge SVGA projectors, and other fantastic gadgets. To kill time while I waited for him to finish work, I used these computers to play, explore, learn (and honestly, break) all of the training machines that he had spent so much time setting up. And so, naturally, I too looked forward to a career in IT. And like many others, this meant starting out in a call center, answering the phone calls of helpless software users, as a lowly, humble Technical Support Representative (TSR).

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How to Efficiently Manage Service Levels with the Right Technology [Slideshare]

By Drew Wilkinson on February 21, 2019

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For most call centers, service level is a very important KPI.

It measures two parameters: 1) the availability of call center agents to assist customers; and 2) the speed with which agents resolve customer queries and concerns. Since any fluctuation in service levels can directly and significantly impact revenue, it’s understandable that call center executives are concerned with taking the necessary steps to consistently improve them. When it comes to service levels, leveraging the right technology can go a long way in improving declining service levels and, as a result, improve other important call center metrics such as CSAT.

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#Trending: Call Centers Are Addicted to Call-Backs

By Astrid Monge on February 12, 2019

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Here’s what we know: In the call center industry, it feels as though there is a carousel of new and emerging call center trends forever in rotation. A trend doesn’t even have to be new or never-before-seen, mind you; it could very well be an existing technology, process, product, or service that has finally garnered the attention it deserves.

In the call center industry, something big is trending: Call-backs. And it’s no surprise that call centers are addicted to this solution because, quite simply, it’s the secret to customer happiness.

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Contact Centers Focusing Less on 80/20 Service Level

By Shai Berger on April 17, 2018

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In the wide world of call center metrics, “service level” has always held a special place. It gives the industry a universally understood way to talk about how quickly calls are answered by agents. Its origins go back over 5 decades, to the earliest days of call centers.

The longevity of service level is astonishing when one considers the enormous changes that have occurred in customer service technology over the last few decades. Even more astonishing is that most call centers would name the same target value for that metric: the magical “80/20”.

Now – finally – this dominance may be fading. Contact centers are realizing more and more that adhering too closely to this one metric may not yield optimal results.

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Is an 80/20 Service Level Your Call Center’s ‘North Star’?

By Shai Berger on September 5, 2017

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Is an 80/20 Service Level Your Call Center’s ‘North Star’? The concept of a “North Star” metric has become a fashionable discussion among start-up culture. The idea is that companies should find a single, simple metric to focus on and, if they choose well, it will align everyone on the team with the actions needed for success. Check out this deck on that topic from Sean Ellis, who popularized the “growth hacking” phenomenon.

Call centers are highly focused on metrics too. If most call center teams had to pick a “North Star” it would be service level, which measures the length of time callers wait to reach an agent. It’s kind of surprising that, despite all the enormous changes that have occurred in customer service technology, the dominant metric remains service level. Even more surprising is that most call centers would name the same target value for that metric: the magical “80/20”. Why is this so? Continue reading →

5 Popular Call Center Benchmarks – How Do You Stack Up?

By Nicolina Savelli on February 10, 2016

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5 Popular Call Center Benchmarks

You can’t manage what you don’t measure.

Which is why it’s so important for call center managers to benchmark their contact center’s performance. With proper benchmarking, you can determine just how well your operations (and your staff) stacks up against your competition. We’ve chosen 5 popular call center benchmarks: Service Level, Average Speed to Answer, Abandonment Rate, Call Duration, and First Call Resolution, to help you determine whether or not your contact center is performing optimally.

This infographic defines and reveals each of the 5 benchmark’s global average, which can be measured against your own contact center’s metrics. This is a good indication of whether or not your call center is performing up to par (maybe you’re exceeding metrics in some categories, but need a little boost in others). Take a look and see how you stack up!

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5 Pitfalls When Setting Your Call Center Service Levels

By Shai Berger on December 8, 2015

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5 Pitfalls When Setting Your Call Center Service Levels The forecast says there’s a 20% chance of rain tomorrow in your city. Does that mean that it will be raining 20% of the time? Or that there’s a 20% chance there will be at least some rain? Or something in between?

And what in the world does this have to with call center metrics?!

The forecast problem illustrates how difficult it can be to work with probability. The most common performance metric used by call centers is the “service level”, which measures how quickly calls are answered. It is defined as a pair of numbers: a percentage value and a time value in seconds. So, for example, an “80/20″ service level means 80% of calls answered in 20 seconds. Like the forecast of rain, this is a probabilistic measurement and can be misleading if not understood properly. Continue reading →

How to Provide Acceptable Hold Times During Peak Season

By Daniela Puzzo on November 19, 2015

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How to Provide Acceptable Hold Times During Peak Season Let’s get straight to the point – If you want a successful contact center, excellent customer service must be at the heart of it. An abandoned call is just the opposite of that. Whether customers are staring at their watches in a checkout line or tapping their fingers while on hold, the time they spend waiting diminishes the experience. Period.

Customers expect to receive service quickly and efficiently. It’s no secret that they hate waiting on hold, which is why they choose to hang-up instead. I’m certain you’re asking the question: Couldn’t they have stuck it out just a little longer to get the answer they needed? The answer is no. 60% of customers will abandon a call after just one minute of waiting on hold. The world is moving at a rapid pace and your contact center needs to keep up. (Don’t worry, I won’t be pointing the finger throughout the entire blog, I actually have a solution for you – yay!)

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