Glossary

Click on a letter to browse the terms associated with it.

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Abandon Rate	An internal metric of all calls that get connected to the call center but are disconnected by the caller before reaching an agent, outbound trunk, or information announcement. The abandon rate is the percentage of calls that are abandoned compared to calls received.
Abandoned Call or Contact	A call or other type of contact that has been offered into a communications network or telephone system, but is terminated by the person originating the contact before any conversation happens. In an outbound calling scenario, abandoned calls refer to connects that are disconnected by the automated dialer once live contact is detected and no agent is available to match up with the call.
Access digit	On a PBX, a dialing number, such as 9, used to access an outside line. Also called access code.
Access gateway:	A gateway that allows the IP PBX to communicate with the PSTN or traditional PBX system. See also, IP, PBX, and PSTN.
Access layer	Part of ISO_OSI layered protocol model
Access line	A transmission line that provides access to a larger system or network.
Access link	The local access connection between a customer’s premises and a carrier’s point of presence (POP), which is the carrier’s central switching office or closest point of local termination.
Access method	The technique for moving data, voice, or video between storage and input/output devices.
Access protocol	A set of specific procedures that enable a user to obtain services from a telephone company or network.
ACD (Automatic Call Distributor)	specialized phone system used for handling many incoming calls. The ACD will recognize and answer an incoming call; will look in its database for call routing instructions. It will send the call to a recording or a voice response unit (VRU) or will send the call to an available agent according to the instructions for that call. An ACD will normally produce management information tracking both calls and agent performance.
ACS (Automatic Call Sequencer)	A device for handling incoming calls. Typically it answers an incoming call, gives the caller a message and puts them on hold, signaling agents a call is waiting. It has no internal switching mechanism and does not affect the call in any way. It provides an indication of which call should be picked up next in order of arrival and keeps statistical information on the progress of calls. No agent statistics are provided.
Activity Codes	Codes entered by agents to indicate the type of contact handled. Also called wrap-up codes, these codes allow reporting by contact type.
Adherence to Schedule	A measure of whether agents are "on the job" as scheduled. Adherence is determined by comparing scheduled time when an agent is "supposed" to be at work, as compared to the actual time an agent is actually at work. The question, "how often do agents deviate from their schedule" is answered by this metric.
Advanced 800 Service	A set of toll-free services named initially by AT&T that includes long-distance calls routing into an organization based on time-of-day, point of origin, or percentage allocation of call volume.
After Call Work (ACW)	Work immediately following an inbound call or transaction. If work must be completed before agent can handle next contact, then ACW is factored into average handle time. Work may involve keying activity codes, updating database, filling out forms, or placing an outbound contact.
Agent	The person that handles calls in a contact center. Also referred to as a telephone service representative (TSR) or customer service representative (CSR).
Agent Group, Split or Gate	A group of agents handling a specific type or group of calls or contacts.
Agent Occupancy	Generally a percent of logged in time that an agent spends in active contact handling states (i.e., on incoming calls, in wrap-up activity, on outbound calls).
Agent Status	The current work mode of the agent, such as Busy on Call, Available, Unavailable, After Call Work, Off-Phone Work, etc.
Agent Turnover	This is the number of agents who left in the course of a year as a percentage of the total number of agents working during that same period. Turnover is calculated by comparing the number of agents who left their "agent job" in the previous year divided by the average number of agents working during the year and stating this answer as a percentage. The average number of agents is calculated by taking the beginning year agent head count plus the end of year agent head count, and dividing the sum by 2.
Average Handle Time	The amount of time an employee is occupied with an incoming contact. This is the sum of transaction time and wrap-up time.
All Trunks Busy (ATB)	A state in which all trunks in a specific trunk group are busy. May occur when all trunks are actually occupied with calls, or when some portion of trunks are artificially blocked by system user in periods of understaffing to minimize number of calls in queue.
Alternate Routing	A feature that redirects outbound calls based on predetermined criteria. For example, first choice might be the WAN with calls alternately routed to the PSTN if the WAN is busy.
Ambient Noise	The background noise that is present on a non-digital communications line at all times.
Automatic Number Identification (ANI)	Automatic Number Identification. ANI is a service of telecommunications carriers, which identifies the telephone number of the calling party. It is commonly used for billing, call routing and database synchronization. There are several specific technologies that fit under the umbrella of ANI, including caller ID.
ANSI	American National Standard Institute. A U.S. organization chartered to accredit standards developed by a wide variety of industry groups while avoiding improper influence from any one company or organization. ANSI does not develop standards, but reviews and implements those developed by other organizations. For example, ANSI accredits standards for telephony developed by the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Standards (ATIS) under the auspices of the T1 Committee, and standards for cellular radio developed by the Electronics Industry Association (EIA) and the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA). ANSI is a member of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). See also ISO.
Area Code	A three-digit number identifying geographic areas of the United States and Canada. It permits direct distance dialing on the telephone system. Also known as Numbering Plan Area (NPA).
Average Speed of Answer (ASA)	The average wait in queue experienced by all callers to an ACD group during a specified period. It includes both calls delayed and those answered immediately in the calculation.
ATC	Attendant Console. Also called an Operator Console. A specialized phone set used by console operators to answer and direct incoming calls.
Automated Attendant	A device that answers callers with a recording, and allows callers to route themselves by dialing digits associated with menu choices.
Automated Greeting	The capability of an ACD or add-on system to allow an agent to record a greeting that automatically plays when call is answered. Also called voice-saver system.
Automated Call Back	A feature of a telephone system that permits a caller to hang up and instruct the system to call back as soon as a busy station or trunk is free.
Auxiliary Work State	A work state other than actively handling calls. As an example, agents may go into an auxiliary work state to process paperwork or emails. Agents will not receive calls while in auxiliary work state.
AVVID	See Cisco AVVID.
Average Time in Queue	The average length of time (in seconds) a caller must spend waiting before the ACD can find an available TSR to take the call. This number is not the equivalent of Average Speed of Answer, as it includes only those calls that actually experience a wait for a live agent. Also known as average time of delay.
Average Talk-Time	Total number of seconds the caller was connected to an agent.
Average Speed of Answer (ASA)	Equal to the total time in queue divided by the total number of calls answered. This includes both technology-handled calls as well as live agent calls.
Average Value per Sale	When agents are taking orders, it becomes important to know the average sale value of individual sales. This number is determined by taking the total sales in dollars during a period of time, let's say a week, and dividing this by the total number of sale calls handled during the same period of time.
Average Handle Time	The amount of time it takes on average to handle a contact to completion, including talk time plus after-contact work time. To calculate, divide the total seconds of work time by the number of contacts.
Average Delay to Abandon	Average time callers are held in queue before disconnecting (prior to agent answer).
Average Delay of Delayed Callers	Average wait in queue experienced only by those callers who are delayed. Does not include those calls that are answered immediately.
Average Cost per Call	This is the sum of all costs for running the call center for the period divided by the number of calls handled in the call center for the same period. This would include all calls for all reasons whether handled by an agent or technology, such as IVR.
Average Attendance in Percent	This is a percentage representing how often a CSR is NOT absent from work due to an unplanned absence (not to include excused absences, i.e., vacation, FMLA, jury duty, etc.). Take the total number of unexcused absences and divide it by the total number of absenteeism opportunities and subtract that number from 100.
AVD	Alternate Voice Data. A single transmission facility used for either voice or data.
Available Time	The period of time spent waiting to accept and/or busy on an inbound or outbound contact.
Automated Attendant	A voice processing capability that automates the attendant function. The system prompts callers to respond to choices (e.g., press one for this, two for that") and then coordinates with the ACD to send callers to specific destinations. This function can reside in an on-site system or in the network.
Auto Wrap-Up	An ACD feature whereby the ACD is programmed to automatically put agents into After-Call Work after they finish Talk Time and disconnect calls. When they have completed any After-Call Work required, they put themselves back into Available. See Auto Available.
Auto Greeting	Agent's pre-recorded greeting that plays automatically when a call arrives.
Auto Available	An ACD feature whereby the ACD is programmed to automatically put agents into Available after they finish Talk Time and disconnect calls. If they need to go into After-Call Work, they have to manually put themselves there. See Auto Wrap-up.
Audiotext	A voice processing capability that enables callers to automatically access pre-recorded announcements. See Voice Processing.
Application-based Routing and Reporting	The ACD capability to route and track transactions by type of call, or application (e.g., sales, service, etc.), versus the traditional method of routing and tracking by trunk group and agent group.
Adherence to Schedule	A general term that refers to how well agents adhere to their schedules. Can include both a) how much time they were available to take calls during their shifts, including the time spent handling calls and the time spent waiting for calls to arrive (also called Availability), and b) when they were available to take calls (also called Compliance or Adherence). See Real-Time Adherence Software and Occupancy.