Agent

The person who handles customer telephone calls within the call centre.

Agent Status

A term used to describe the availability of the call centre agent. E.g. available, on break, wrap-up, unavailable.

Automatic Call Distributor (ACD)

A system that distributes incoming calls to a specific group of people / terminals. This usually incorporates features such as intelligent queuing and message playback to the caller while on hold.

Business to Business (B2B)

Marketing transactions which target businesses as customers (business data)

Business to Consumer (B2C)

Marketing transactions which target business and consumers (consumer data).

Call Centre

The location where the calls are placed and/or received for the specified business activity.

Call handling services

The process of agents answering and handling business calls in the call centre.

Call Recording

Network and switch (ACD) level call recording. At network level it customers can access call recordings through a web portal. Businesses record calls for a number of reasons ranging from quality assurance and training, to regulatory and contract compliance.

Contact Centre

Another name for a call centre. The facility companies use to manage all client contact.

Disaster Recovery

A specifically designed telephone contact plan, which can be activated with one phone call in the event of a major emergency.

Inbound Call Centre

Calls made by other people to your company, captured by professionally trained agents.

Interactive Voice Response (IVR)

Automated telephone response systems that can answer and manage calls before they reach an agent. Common features are call queuing, message playback, hold music, ACD, payment processing.

Outbound Call Centre

Telemarketing calls made by call centre agents on behalf of your company.

Outsourcing

Contracting an element of your businesses internal functions to an outside company.

Overflow

Traffic which cannot be handled within the capacity of your business. Call centres often use other call centres for their own overflow system purposes.

Predictive Dialler

A system used to make outbound calls; using advanced software predictive dialling automates everything, with the computer choosing who to call and the number to dial.

Queue

Intelligent and responsive queuing can help manage the flow of calls into a call centre. Particularly useful for dealing with advertising response when call traffic is spikey.

Scripts

A specifically designed script which prompts and guides call centre agents through the communication process with the customer, to ensure that all relevant information is captured in a controlled sequence.

Telemarketing

The process of selling products and services over the phone.

Virtual receptionist/switchboard

The process of taking messages and transferring calls to the correct departments from a virtual location.

Wrap Time

The time an agent spends after completing relevant transactions after a call has been disconnected.

Grade of Service (GOS)

The grade of service a customer expects to receive, measured by live calls answered as a percentage of presented calls.

Service Level Agreement (SLA)

An agreement between the client and service provider where the level of service is formally defined.

Total Calls Answered (TCA)

The total number of calls answered by live agents in the call centre, usually expressed as a percentage of presented calls.

Percentage calls answered (PCA)

Of answered calls, the percentage answered by a live agent within a specific timeframe, (i.e. 80% in 20 seconds).

Average wait answered (AWA)

The average time callers have waited to have their call answered by a live agent.

Average call duration

The average amount of time a caller spends on the line, including or excluding additional wrap time.