Glossary

Helpful A-Z glossary listing key terms, acronyms and their definitions.

A

Abandoned After Threshold

A performance measurement of the number of inbound calls terminated after waiting in queue beyond a set threshold time, or maximum wait time limit.

Abandoned Before Threshold

A performance measurement of the number of inbound calls terminated after waiting in queue beyond a set threshold time, or maximum wait time limit.

Abandoned Call

An inbound phone call to a call center that has been disconnected or hung up by the caller before being connected with an agent.

ACD

See automatic call distribution.

Activity Codes

Activity codes, also known as call disposition codes, are a set of codes or labels, that are applied to call records based on a company’s criteria and are used to categorize or describe a call.

ACW

See after-call work.

Adherence

Adherence also known as schedule adherence, is a metric used to determine the ability of a call center agent or representative to comply with, and adhere to schedules, scripts, company policies, codes, and guidelines.

After-Call Work (ACW)

After-Call Work (ACW) also known as post-call processing, involves all the tasks that a customer service agent or representative must complete after interacting with a customer. This ensures the delivery of an exceptional customer experience.

Agent

An Agent is a customer service representative responsible for Handling customer inquiries, requests, and complaints through synchronous or asynchronous support channels such as voice, text messages, chat, email, and social media.

Agent Availability

Usually expressed as a percentage, agent availability is the amount of idle time that brand agents or representatives are available and ready to receive incoming customer calls.

Agent Occupancy

Is a metric that measures the percentage of time brand representatives spend in active contact delivering customer service, against idle or available time where agents are available and waiting to receive inbound calls. It is used to determine the productivity of a call center.

Agent Status

Represents the availability or current status of an agent, whether it be available, after phone work, busy or unavailable, etc.

Agent Utilization

Indicates the percentage of time agents are productive and are on call related activities against their total work hours or shifts.

AHT

See average handle time.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to the simulation of human intelligence, such as speech recognition, learning, planning and problem solving demonstrated by machines or computers.

Analytics (Contact Center Analytics)

Refers to the collection and analysis of customer related data from across multiple support channels, for the purpose of identifying customer trends and needs, in order to improve and refine customer experiences as well as keep the brand’s operation at peak performance.

ANI

See automatic number identification.

Announcement

Refers to automated directives that play brand information, FAQs, or advertisements to callers on hold.

Answer Rate

Answer rate is the number of calls answered by customer service agents in comparison to the number of calls received by the call center.

Answer Supervision

Answer supervision is a network control signal sent by the automatic call distributor (ACD) or central office switch, to the local or long-distance carrier to accept an incoming call and begin tracking toll charges if applicable to the call.

AOV

See average order value.

Application-Based Routing and Reporting

Application-Based Routing and Reporting is a technology that enables call centers to route and track customers' phone calls, to segregate, classify and organize them into categories according to the type of call or application including sales, services, and technical support.

Apps

Apps is a modern term for a computer program or software application designed for mobile devices and tablets to accomplish specific tasks and functions. Apps are widely used by brands and e-commerce companies to provide customers with a flexible, convenient, and faster buying process.

Architecture

The foundation of a system, that defines its structure, embodies its components and their relationships to each other.

Area Code

An assigned three digit precursor to the main phone number that is used to identify specific areas in a country such as the U.S or Canada.

ASA

See average speed of answer.

ATT

See average talk time.

Auto Available

Auto Available is a system feature that ensures that customer service agents or representatives are automatically put into availlable mode after wrapping up and disconnecting.

Auto Wrap-up

When a customer service agent ends an interaction with a customer, they are automatically lined up into 'Auto Wrap-up' mode, which puts the agent into after-call work (ACW) as opposed to available. Agents must put themselves back into available mode as soon as they complete ACW.

Automated Attendant

A pre-recorded phone directive or voice menu system that allows callers to be transferred to the desired party without going through a telephone operator.

Automated Greeting

A performance measurement of the number of inbound calls terminated after waiting in queue beyond a set threshold time, or maximum wait time limit.

Automatic Call Distributor (ACD)

Automatic Call Distributor (ACD) is a specialized telephony software system that receives incoming calls, categorizes them based on preset conditions, then transfers them to a specific agent or department.

Automatic Dialer (Auto Dialer)

An outbound dialer phone software that automatically dials phone numbers from a call list, then connects answered calls to customer service agents.

Automatic Number Identification (ANI)

A feature of a telecommunications network that automatically provides phone number information to a receiving phone system. It is an advanced feature that is used to automatically retrieve associated information of the customer, which includes phone number, location, account record, and billing status.

Auxiliary Work State

An'unavailabe' work state, where cutomer service agents are not involved in call-related activities, but instead perform tasks such as sending emails, or processing paperwork. During this time, the automatic call distributor (ACD) will not route or transfer calls to them.

Available State

Represents a customer service agent's work status while signed into the automatic call distribution (ACD) system and ready to receive inbound calls.

Available Time

A status in which a customer service representative is available and waiting to accept incoming calls.

Average After-Call Work Time (AWT)

The average amount of time customer service agents deal with post-call work activities after ending a call, and are unavailable to accept incoming calls.

Average Call Value

Total income or profit divided by the total number of calls, during a certain period of time.

Average Contacts Per Hour

A key performance indicator (KPI) that is measured by dividing the number of contacts that a customer service agent manages, by the number of hours the customer service agent works.

Average Delay of Delayed Calls (DEADLY)

A metric that helps in measuring the average delay or wait that callers experience when waiting to get connected with an agent.

Average Delay to Abandon

The average time customers wait before disconnecting or abandoning the call.

Average Delay to Answer

The average time customers wait before disconnecting or abandoning the call.

Average Delay to Answer

AKA average speed of answer (ASA), is a metric used to measure the average time a call remains in queue before an agent answers it.

Average Handle Time (AHT)

A key performance indicator (KPI) that measures the average duration of a customer interaction, including talk times, after-call work (ACW), hold times and transfers.

Average Speed of Answer (ASA)

A metric that measures the average amount of time callers spend waiting in queue until their call is answered by a customer service agent.

Average Talk Time (ATT)

One of the average handle time (AHT) components, and a key performance indicator (KPI) that measures the average amount of time a customer service agent spends speaking with a customer.

AWT

See average after-call work time.