What is the Average Handling Time in a Contact Center?

Consumers nowadays demand an excellent level of customer care and assistance, as well as quick and effective resolution of their problems.

To guarantee this, call center agents must be able to deliver prompt responses and solutions to consumer inquiries, regardless of complexity.

That's why Average Handle Time (AHT) is an important KPI for contact centers.

So, exactly what is the average handle time?

Average handling time or AHT is a KPI metric that call centers often use to measure the average time to resolve a customer’s issues or concerns. Simply, consider AHT as the average duration of a customer service interaction.

This involves call duration such as hold times, talk time, and the time required for after-call work like follow-ups.

The formula to calculate AHT is :

As a general rule of thumb, you should attempt to reduce your AHT to improve agent performance, increase customer satisfaction and overall customer service quality, and cut call center expenditures.

9 Effective Solutions to Better Your Average Handling Time

What are some methods to improve AHT in a call center and make sure that agents keep low AHT while providing excellent customer service? The most effective strategies for lowering an AHT and raising a call center's general productivity are listed below:

Equip w/ internal knowledge base

An effective IVR system improves AHT by speeding up call handling and routing calls to the appropriate departments or customer support professionals.

A carefully constructed IVR technology can gather important data early on, allowing agents to swiftly answer the customer's demands. The less time an agent spends understanding the issue, the more efficiently the IVR system routes the consumer.

Incorporate AI for better agent productivity

Artificial intelligence (AI) improves agent productivity, reducing the amount of time you spend on calls. AI-powered technologies may greatly improve agent performance by automating usual tasks like inputting information and making real-time suggestions during calls.

These technologies can provide quick access to knowledge sources, recommend responses based on customer feedback, and even summarize call data. AI reduces AHT without affecting service quality.

Place Your call routing strategy appropriately

Developing an efficient call routing system is one of the best options to be considered. Assign calls to agents with the most appropriate experience for handling particular issues. Intelligent call routing (ICR) minimizes the need for transfers, which not only cuts down call times but also improves customer experience.

According to HubSpot research, 33% of customers are most dissatisfied when having to repeat themselves to various assistance teams.

Encourage agents with organized scripts dealing with common customer queries

Delivering structured, easy-to-follow scripts to agents will assist in the productive management of conversations. Well-written scripts should use clear, simple language and anticipate frequently asked questions.

This strategy ensures that calls are handled accurately and efficiently, resulting in lower AHT.

Spot inefficiencies using call recording

Call recording simplifies post-call analysis, and helps in identifying tendencies in customer interactions. By constantly analyzing call records, you can locate inefficiencies in your processes, and bottlenecks, and make the required changes to enhance incoming call flow and reduce Average Handle Time.

Consider recording agent phone calls so that you can lessen AHT.

Collect important data before moving on a customer call

Integrating a CRM system with call center operations allows agents to access customer information promptly. Agents spend less time on calls w
hen they have fast access to relevant customer history and information since they don't have to ask for or seek for details.

Manage support requests through a single window

Omnichannel support is here for the long haul, thereby software solutions should allow agents to manage support requests from many channels in a single window, rather than shifting between tabs.

This consistency across channels assists in reducing AHT while delivering a smooth CX.

Keep an eye on agent performance

Agent performance should be monitored regularly to identify areas where they may require more training or support. Management may help agents improve the quality of their work by providing targeted coaching and positive feedback, hence reducing AHT.

Gain valuable insight into the customer’s input

Recognizing the root cause of customer inquiries could help in resolving issues more swiftly in future interactions. Businesses can discover and address frequent pain points by analyzing customer data via surveys or feedback forms.

This will lower the amount of time agents spend on calls, resulting in improved AHT.

Conclusion
More significantly, to better support your team, consider a contact center that has robust call routing and IVR systems, analytics, call monitoring, and AI technologies.

Hear me out: increasing your AHT is not something that just happens. There is a method for doing it.

Having said that, using LeadsRain 's marketing tools in conjunction with the above-mentioned tips will succeed.