Are you measuring the right set of call center metrics that actually improve performance?
This is important because a 2023 survey by TCN revealed that 73% of U.S. consumers would abandon a brand after a single negative customer service interaction. It also marks a significant increase from 42% in 2021.
In this context, monitoring metrics like Average Handle Time (AHT) can reveal inefficiencies that cost both time and money.
However, all seasoned CX leaders know that not every metric deserves your attention.In fact, focusing on the wrong numbers wastes resources and can lead to adverse decisions.
In this blog post, you’ll learn about 12 expert-vetted call center metrics you should track. Each includes a clear definition, why it matters, and actionable tips to help you perform better.
Why is tracking call center metrics important?
Metrics defeat their purpose if you don’t act on them, or promptly use them to spot delays, fix weak spots, and improve how your team works. However, when you do, customers definitely notice. They get faster answers and better support. As a result, they come back, and they tell other prospects about your brand.
As Maya Angelou once put it,
According to a 2024 Salesforce report, 88% of customers say good customer service makes them more likely to purchase again, and 80% consider the company's experience as necessary as its products and services.
To meet these rising expectations, businesses must ensure their call centers aren't just functional but truly effective. Here is how measuring call center success can help you:
Boost customer satisfaction
Widely used metrics like Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) and First Call Resolution (FCR) tell you if you meet customer needs. Regularly tracking these metrics ensures alignment with customer expectations and helps reduce churn.
Enhance agent performance
Metrics such as Average Handle Time (AHT) and Agent Utilization Rate provide insights into agent efficiency. Monitoring these can help optimize schedules and identify areas for targeted training.
Optimize operational costs
Efficiency directly impacts operational expenses. Metrics like average handle time and call abandonment rate can highlight process inefficiencies, allowing businesses to optimize labor budgets and improve overall cost-effectiveness.
Top 12 call center metrics
When hold times exceed 2 minutes, customer satisfaction takes a hit. To maintain high-quality service and stay ahead of customer expectations, it’s crucial to monitor performance closely. That’s where these 12 key call center metrics come in:
Customer-focused metrics
Let us go over the key call center metrics that show how well you’re meeting customer expectations. You’ll learn which numbers reflect satisfaction, loyalty, and effort so you can act fast when things slip.
1. First Call Resolution (FCR)
FCR shows how often your team solves customer issues on the first try. It’s a strong indicator of customer satisfaction and loyalty. If customers need to follow up, frustration and costs build up.
A reasonable FCR rate is 70–79%. World-class call centers aim for 80% or more. According to SQM Group, improving your FCR by just 1% can save you over $280,000 annually.
Tips to improve FCR:
- Define what counts as a repeat or escalated call
- Set a clear time window to track follow-ups
- Exclude customer errors (like calling the wrong department) when evaluating FCR
- Give agents quick access to knowledge bases and internal tools
- Run regular call audits to spot common resolution gaps
- Train agents to ask the right questions early to avoid callbacks
- Use call summaries or confirmations to reduce confusion
2. Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)
How do your customers feel after they interact with your team? CSAT measures their satisfaction and shows whether you’re meeting their expectations.
How to measure CSAT:
Ask customers a simple post-interaction question: “How satisfied were you with your experience?” Provide a scale (e.g., 1 to 5 or 1 to 10).
CSAT Best Practices:
- Set clear, realistic goals based on your current score and industry benchmark
- Personalize every customer interaction using their history and preferences
- Tackle negative feedback head-on. Spot trends and offer tailored fixes
- Build a QA checklist to monitor support quality regularly
- Train agents with internal resources and provide omnichannel support
- Speed up replies with AI chatbots that collect info before routing to agents
- Offer in-app customer service, FAQs, and video guides for self-service
3. Net Promoter Score (NPS)
NPS measures how likely your customers are to recommend your business. It’s a quick way to gauge loyalty and identify issues that hurt your customer experience.
How to calculate NPS:
Ask your customers: “How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague?” They respond on a scale of 0 to 10.
- Scores 9–10 = Promoters
- Scores 7–8 = Passives
- Scores 0–6 = Detractors
Formula:
NPS = % of Promoters – % of Detractors
Example: If 60% are Promoters and 20% are Detractors, your NPS is +40
How to improve operations with NPS:
- Reach out to Detractors promptly. Ask what went wrong. Be empathetic and offer specific solutions
- Share it with support, sales, and product teams. Recognize employees who move the score up
- Let teams review real customer feedback. Talk through common complaints. Spot trends early
- Use actual NPS responses in training. Help agents learn what creates Promoters and what doesn’t
- Are poor scores tied to specific agents, products, or workflows? Investigate. Then fix it
- After you make updates, monitor NPS again. Did it rise? If yes, build on it. If not, dig deeper
4. Average Handle Time (AHT)
AHT measures the total time it takes to resolve a customer issue, from the start of contact to the end of it. It’s a core KPI for call centers that want to monitor efficiency without sacrificing service quality.
How to calculate AHT:
The formula differs slightly by channel. Here’s how to break it down:
- For Calls:
AHT = (Talk Time + Hold Time + Follow-Up Time) / Total Number of Calls - For Email:
AHT = (Total Time Spent + Customer Wait Time) / Total Number of Emails - For Live Chat:
AHT = Total Handle Time / Total Number of Chats
AHT varies by industry and complexity, but for many contact centers, a solid benchmark is around six minutes per interaction.
How to reduce AHT (without hurting CX):
- Host ongoing training, call reviews, and performance feedback to keep skills sharp and reduce unnecessary delays
- Build an easy-to-navigate help center or self-service chatbot. Let customers solve simple issues on their own and reduce ticket volume
- Send alerts, how-to guides, and status updates before customers reach out. Fewer incoming issues mean faster response times for complex ones
- Use skill-based routing to match customers with the right agent the first time
- Deploy chatbots or virtual assistants to handle FAQs, triage issues, or collect context before the agent steps in
Operational Efficiency Metrics
Managing time, reducing hold times, and resolving issues quickly all come down to how efficiently your team operates. These contact center KPIs show how well your team manages time, call volume, and resources.
5. Call Abandonment Rate
This metric highlights how efficiently calls are managed, especially regarding wait times. Call abandonment refers to the percentage of inbound calls that disconnect before a caller speaks to a live agent. It’s often a sign of long hold times, confusing IVR menus, or poor customer experiences.
Formula:
Call Abandonment Rate = (Total Calls - Completed Calls) / Total Calls
Example:
Suppose your call center received 1,000 calls daily, but only 850 were completed (i.e., connected to an agent).
Call Abandonment Rate = (1,000 - 850) / 1,000 = 150 / 1,000 = 0.15
Abandonment Rate = 15%
This means 15% of your callers hung up before getting assistance.
How to reduce abandonment rates:
- Give agents caller context to resolve issues faster
- Use data to identify when and why callers hang up
- Deploy AI voice agents for fast, automated help
- Announce real-time wait times to set expectations
- Optimize IVR flows for clarity and quick routing
- Offer a self-service help center for common queries
- Analyze abandonment points across the caller journey
- Train agents on soft skills and product knowledge
6. Service Level
Service levels measure how quickly and effectively your support team responds to customer inquiries. They reflect your ability to meet agreed expectations and keep customers satisfied.
Main types of service level agreements (SLAs):
- Customer-based SLA: Tailored for one customer with terms unique to their needs
- Service-based SLA: Applies the same terms for one service across all customers
- Operational SLA: Tracks internal performance metrics like uptime and maintenance
- Multi-level SLA: Combines elements of the above, covering company-wide, customer-specific, and service-based aspects
How to monitor and maintain service levels:
- Set realistic, data-backed targets
- Predict peak times using historical trends
- Staff agents based on skill, not just availability
- Cross-train agents for flexible coverage
- Track real-time performance and adjust instantly
- Cut handle time without sacrificing quality
- Route simple queries to self-service tools
- Offer call-backs during high-volume periods
7. Average Speed of Answer (ASA)
ASA tracks how long, on average, it takes for a customer to reach a live agent after entering the call queue. It doesn’t include time spent navigating IVR menus but only the wait time once the caller is in line to speak to someone.
It is a direct indicator of your team’s responsiveness. A high ASA often signals understaffing or inefficient routing, damaging your brand reputation and hurting CSAT scores.
How to improve ASA:
- Set a benchmark ASA target using historical call data
- Staff appropriately based on forecasted peak volumes
- Use skill-based routing to get calls to the right agent faster
- Monitor queue lengths in real time and reallocate agents as needed
- Encourage the use of IVR or self-service for simple requests
- Offer call-back options when wait times spike
8. Call Volume
This refers to the total number of incoming and outgoing calls handled by your support team over a specific period. It gives a clear picture of demand and helps measure your contact center’s workload.
Monitoring call volume trends reveals valuable patterns, such as peak hours, seasonal spikes, or campaign-driven surges. This insight helps managers plan and avoid service bottlenecks.
Common triggers for spikes:
- Seasonal demand: Holidays like Christmas or sales events like Black Friday lead to a surge in customer inquiries
- Promotions and launches: Marketing campaigns or new product releases generate more interest and questions
- Service issues: Outages or disruptions push customers to call for updates or support
Smart ways to handle the load:
- Use call data to predict peaks, hire part-timers if needed, and prevent agent burnout
- Direct callers to the right agent or department automatically to reduce wait time and improve handling
- Provide updated FAQs, knowledge bases, and AI chatbots so customers can resolve issues on their own
- Integrate CRM and call systems so agents can access caller history instantly and resolve issues faster
- Track metrics to identify patterns, plan better, and continuously optimize your capacity and staffing
Agent Performance Metrics
These metrics help you assess how effectively your agents resolve customer issues, manage time, and contribute to overall service quality.
9. Agent Utilization Rate
Are you making the most of your agents’ time on the clock? AUR measures how much of an agent’s paid time is spent handling calls or doing related work. It’s a direct indicator of how efficiently your team is being used.
Tracking this metric helps you balance productivity and burnout. Underutilized agents waste the budget, while overutilized agents burn out and make mistakes.
Formula:
Agent Utilization Rate = (Total Handle Time / Total Logged-in Time) × 100
Example:
If an agent spends 6 hours handling calls during an 8-hour shift:
Utilization Rate = (6 / 8) × 100 = 75%
This means the agent was actively engaged in work 75% of their shift.
How to improve agent utilization without overloading your team:
- Use call volume forecasts to align staffing levels with demand
- Automate repetitive tasks so agents focus on high-value conversations
- Cross-train agents to cover multiple roles or channels when needed
- Monitor in real time and adjust breaks or shift lengths on the fly
10. Agent Occupancy Rate
A key efficiency metric, agent occupancy rate, measures how much time agents spend handling calls or after-call work compared to their total available time.
Occupancy vs. Utilization:
While utilization includes all logged-in activities (including breaks and training), occupancy focuses strictly on time spent on customer-related tasks.
Formula:
Occupancy Rate = (Talk Time + After-Call Work) / (Available Time) × 100
Example:
- Talk Time: 5 hours
- After-Call Work: 1 hour
- Logged-In Time: 8 hours
Occupancy Rate = (5 + 1) / 8 = 0.75 or 75%
This means the agent was actively engaged with work 75% of their shift.
Practical tips to improve Agent Occupancy Rate without burning out your team:
- Match staffing levels to peak and low demand hours using historical data
- Mix inbound, outbound, and non-call tasks to keep agents engaged without overloading
- Automate repetitive wrap-up tasks like call tagging or follow-up email templates
- Send the right calls to the right agents to reduce handling time and increase occupancy
- Let supervisors and agents track occupancy levels and make quick adjustments
11. Quality Scores (QA Scorecards)
Quality Scores (QA Scorecards) measure how well your agents handle customer interactions based on pre-set criteria.
These evaluations cover tone of voice, product knowledge, script adherence, resolution accuracy, and compliance. For instance, you might score a call out of 100 based on these areas, each weighted according to importance.
Tracking quality scores helps you spot coaching opportunities, reward top performers, and ensure consistent service. When used with regular feedback and training, QA scorecards become a tool for continuous performance improvement.
12. Adherence to Schedule
Sticking to assigned shifts is critical to maintaining service levels. Adherence to Schedule measures how closely agents follow their assigned work schedules, such as logins, breaks, and logout times.
Even a few agents going off-schedule can lead to longer wait times and missed SLAs. For example, if 5 out of 20 agents take unplanned breaks during peak hours, your call queue could double.
Tips to improve adherence to the schedule:
- Communicate start times, breaks, and end-of-shift rules upfront
- Track adherence live and address deviations immediately
- Allow short flexibility between tasks to reduce lateness from call overruns
- Use system alerts to notify agents before shift or break changes
- Review adherence reports during one-on-ones and offer support when patterns emerge
- Incentivize punctuality with public praise or small rewards
Improve your call center metrics with Plivo
If you want faster resolutions, lower wait times, and better visibility into performance, you need more than just basic reporting. You need a solution built for modern support teams, one that works as hard as your agents do.
As an all-in-one platform for omnichannel customer service, Plivo gives you that edge. It comes with OpenAI-powered AI agents and specific actionable insights on its console. As a result, you can run a smarter, faster, and more efficient call center.
Here’s how Plivo improves your operational efficiency with its tailored features:
- AI agents for instant resolutions: Automate routine queries and reduce agent workload. Let AI handle FAQs, status updates, and call routing 24/7
- Context-aware escalation: Automatically create tickets, escalate complex issues from AI agents to expert agents with complete context, reducing transfer friction and improving resolution times
- Easy integrations: Plug Plivo into your CRM, helpdesk, or other tools with minimal effort
- Scalable and flexible: Whether you’re a team of 10 or 1,000, Plivo grows with you
- Workflow automation: Manages follow-ups, ticket routing, and status updates without manual input, keeping customers informed at every step
- Real-time analytics: Track call volume, handle time, and agent performance as it happens. No more guessing
- Enterprise-grade security: Complies with SOC 2 and GDPR requirements to protect customer data and maintain trust.
Ready to reduce wait times, boost agent productivity, and delight your customers at every touchpoint?
See how Plivo can transform your call center. Book a demo now.
