7 Strategies for Improving Call Center Average Handle Time in 2023

Call center average handle time, or AHT, is one of the most important metrics to drive success for your organization. It reflects many crucial areas of call center performance, including customer satisfaction and operational efficiency – and it can be used to uncover underlying issues or to surface opportunities. 

In this article, we’ll look at the mechanics underlying call center average handle time, as we uncover seven key strategies to improve this business-critical benchmark.  

What Is Call Center Average Handle Time (AHT)? 

Call center average handle time is a metric that gives the average amount of time a call center agent spends on a customer interaction.  

This interaction can be a call, email, or chat, but what’s important to bear in mind is that AHT takes into account the entire process, including time spent after the direct interaction with the customer or “Total Talk Time + Total After-Call Work Time.” 

For example, if an agent takes a call that lasts 5 minutes, and then after the call updates the CRM for 2 minutes and sends a follow-up email that takes 1 minute, the numerator of the AHT equation equals 8 minutes (5 + 2 +1).  

This is one of the reasons for the centrality of AHT as a call center metric: it provides a high-level overview of how efficient the contact center is, and this granularity can be drilled down to the individual agent level.  

What Is a Good Call Center Average Handle Time? 

It’s difficult to pinpoint a “good” call center average handle time, due to different industries and call center functions. However, there are some rough guides available.  

Reports note that call center average handle time ranges from 528 seconds for telecommunication companies, to 324 seconds for retail companies, and 282 seconds for business and IT services and financial services companies.  

Other data shows industries such as healthcare & life sciences coming in as low as 149 seconds, and financial services coming in at an average of 208 seconds.   

While there is no call center average handle time standard, these numbers can provide a good approximation.  

How To Calculate Call Center Average Handle Time 

Calculating call center average handle time is based on a simple formula, which takes the total amount of time directly interacting with customers (“Total Talk Time”) plus the total amount of time spent on post-call tasks such as following up or updating internal systems (“Total After-Call Work Time”), and dividing this by the total number of interactions for the period.  

The call center average handle time calculation is as follows: AHT = (Total Talk Time + Total After-Call Work Time) / Total Number of Interactions 

Hold time is included in the call center average handle time calculation, as is time spent escalating the call if necessary.  

Importance of Call Center Average Handle Time in Operations 

Call center average handle time is critical from an operational standpoint for a number of reasons, including:  

Customer experience AHT directly impacts the customer experience. Customers generally prefer shorter wait times and faster issue resolution. If AHT is too long, customers may become frustrated, leading to lower customer satisfaction and possible churn. For AHT customer service that’s significantly improved is a key outcome.  

Cost efficiency Call center average handle time is closely tied to the cost of operations. Shorter AHT allows call centers to handle more interactions with the same workforce, improving cost efficiency. 

Workforce management AHT is a critical factor in workforce management. By analyzing historical call center average handle time data, call centers can forecast staffing requirements accurately. 

Agent productivity and efficiency Monitoring and managing AHT can help call center managers identify areas for improvement in agent performance.  

Service Level Agreements (SLAs) Many call centers have SLAs in place that define specific performance targets, including call center average handle time.  

Identifying bottlenecks High AHT can be an indicator of potential bottlenecks or inefficiencies in call center operations. By analyzing call center average handle time along with other metrics, managers can pinpoint areas that require attention and improvement.

Resource allocation AHT helps managers determine how many agents are required during different times of the day or week. Properly allocating resources ensures optimal utilization of agent time. 

Call center metrics benchmarking Call center average handle time is a fundamental metric used to benchmark call center performance against industry standards and competitors. 

Continuous improvement Monitoring AHT regularly allows call centers to identify trends and make continuous improvements to call center processes, agent training, and technology, leading to better overall performance. 

Operational agility Call centers with well-managed AHT can respond to fluctuations in call volumes more effectively. During periods of high volume, shorter AHT ensures that customers are served promptly, maintaining service levels. 

7 Strategies to Optimize Call Center Average Handle Time 

We’ve put together 7 key, tested strategies to optimize the all-important call center average handle time metric:  

1. Agent training and coaching Provide comprehensive training to agents, focusing on product knowledge, communication skills, and effective issue resolution techniques. Ideally, training should be AI-enhanced, real-time, and personalized.  
2. Leverage technology and tools Invest in advanced call center technology that aids agents in accessing customer information quickly and automates repetitive tasks. What’s particularly important is to harness technology in building up agents with unified, guided experiences and performance-driven learning. Centrical uniquely provides this employee-centric approach through its Employee Performance Experience methodology.  
3. Encourage active listening Train agents to practice active listening, understand customer needs, and address concerns efficiently. Avoiding unnecessary repetitions and clarifying issues upfront can streamline the interaction process. 
4. Promote First-Call Resolution (FCR) Emphasize the importance of resolving customer issues on the first call. Encourage agents to gather all necessary information during the initial interaction to avoid follow-up calls and reduce overall handling time. 
5. Prioritize caller segmentation Categorize incoming calls based on complexity or issue type to route them to specialized teams or experienced agents.  
6. Offer self-service options Implement self-service options such as Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems or online knowledge bases.  
7. Monitor and analyze call data Regularly track and analyze call center average handle time data to identify trends, potential bottlenecks, and areas for improvement. 

Measuring and Monitoring Call Center Average Handle Time 

Measuring call center average handle time starts by having accurate tools in place to track the key components of the metric, i.e., talk times, after-call work times, and of course the total number of interactions.  

Monitoring of this metric should be constant; any changes can indicate a serious underlying issue, such as staffing and training problems. 

Benchmarking AHT against industry standards and other metrics like FCR and CSAT helps gauge performance, while continuous communication and feedback with agents foster a culture of improvement, ensuring optimal call center average handle time without compromising service quality. 

Meet Centrical — #1 Gamification-based Performance eXperience Platform 

Centrical, the #1 gamification-based Performance eXperience platform to drive better EX and CX, delivers a measurable impact across your organization. 

For contact centers, Centrical empowers employees and managers to meet and exceed their targets – including call center average handle time – by taking a holistic, gamified approach to the employee experience and providing real-time performance insights, augmented coaching, performance-driven microlearning, and more.  

Centrical’s personalized, AI-driven platform provides the real-time coaching and engagement necessary to slash call center average handle times while driving an average 15% increase in CSAT and FCR scores. 

Watch the Centrical platform in action with a quick preview 

FAQs 

What is the standard call center average talk time? 

The standard call center average talk time varies depending on the industry and the complexity of customer inquiries, but it typically ranges from 3 to 6 minutes per call. 

What is average handling duration? 

Average handling duration refers to the total time an agent spends on a customer interaction, including talk time and any after-call work, such as documentation or follow-up tasks. 

How do you calculate average call center hold time? 

To calculate average call center hold time, add up the total hold time for all calls and divide it by the total number of calls during a specific period.  

Effectively Optimizing Call Center Average Handle Time 

We looked at some basics, background, and mechanics of call center average handle time, including what call center average handle time, the ideal length, and how to optimize call center average handle time. Below are a few key takeaways: 

• Call center average handle time is an important metric that can indicate the health of key operational areas, including customer experience, agent productivity and efficiency, resource allocation, and more.  
• The metric and its components should be constantly monitored for signs of larger issues, such as staffing and training.  
• There are a variety of strategies to optimize call center average handle time, which include robust training and coaching programs, leveraging technology, caller segmentation, active listening, and more.  
• The metric and its components should be constantly monitored for signs of larger issues, such as staffing and training. 

We also looked at Centrical as a key tool to optimize call center average handle time, enabling agent empowerment, encouraging growth and real-time coaching, and keeping call center employees engaged. 

With its Performance Experience Methodology, Centrical’s employee-centric approach ensures that operational performance and customer experience are constantly improving – and that employees are motivated, engaged, and performing through every stage of the employee lifecycle.  

Learn more about how Centrical can optimize your call center operation.