How do you calculate average handle time? To get a clear understanding of the Average Handle Time metric in call centers, refer to this video: What is Average Handle Time and How Do You Fix It? It’s an effective metric for establishing new milestones or goals like handling more calls per agent or serving more customers effectively.Īdditionally, AHT is a crucial call center Key Performance Indicator (KPI) along with metrics like the average speed of answer, first call resolution, customer satisfaction score, and Net Promoter Score (NPS.) Post phone call work or After call work (ACW) like entering customer information.ĪHT is used to analyze the efficiency of agents and the customer service organization as a whole.To measure AHT, you’ll have to consider these data points:

It can also be used to measure the effectiveness of non-immediate contact channels like emails. The AHT metric is extensively used in call centers and contact centers to measure the operational efficiency of phone or live chat support. What is average handle time?Īverage handle time or AHT is the average period of an entire customer call from start to finish.

7 Ways to Optimize Your Average Handle Time.

3 Causes for a High Average Handle Time.

(Click on the link to go to a particular section) We’ll also show you how to measure it, along with seven actionable steps to optimize your AHT right away. In this article, we’ll discuss everything you need to know about AHT. The costs of customer callbacks and increased agent recruitment and onboarding are much higher than any savings that could be gained through shorter calls. It’s easy to think that lower AHT gives a better customer experience, but there is much more at play here is a great quote about average handle time from Nextiva blog: You’ll also be able to discover how to reduce customers’ time on hold and increase the number of calls handled by agents to improve customer satisfaction. Tracking the average handle time gives you insights into how effectively agents address customer issues - the shorter the AHT, the better. Average handle time (AHT) is one of the most popular metrics to measure the efficiency of customer service agents and organizations.

A higher call