Key Metrics Contact Centre Managers Must Be Aware Of
Contact centre managers play the critical role of overseeing the operation of their organisation’s contact centre. As this role entails the vital responsibilities of monitoring agent performance and assessing key metrics to understand how to optimise the contact centre’s processes, the right contact centre software must be leveraged.
As contact centres can handle both incoming and outgoing inquiries across multiple channels, contact centre managers need to keep an eye on several different metrics. For example, concerning inbound call interactions, ‘First Call Resolution (FCR)’ is calculated as a percentage of the number of customers where queries were resolved within their first outreach divided by the total amount of queries handled:
First Call Resolution = 
Contact centre managers must aim to improve FCR as this measurement can indicate areas of improvement for agent training, which may assist in providing a higher level of customer service, thus maximising the customer experience.
Another key indicator of your contact centre’s performance is the ‘Abandonment Rate.’ This metric is found as a percentage of the total number of calls your contact centre received subtracted by the number of calls handled divided by the total number of calls received:
Abandonment Rate = 
Customers may end their interaction for various reasons, including frustration from long wait times, being inadvertently disconnected from the call, or perhaps there are too many cumbersome IVR menu options before being connected with an agent. According to a global report, the average abandonment rate is 5%-8%. Contact centre managers must aim to decrease the abandonment rate as this metric can signify how efficient your contact centre is, which can influence the customer experience.
Utilising the right contact centre software can support reducing your organisation’s abandonment rate. ipSCAPE’s cloud communication technology provides the ability to understand the number of interactions your organisation receives within a specific period and the duration callers spend in the queue. Understanding this data can help contact centre managers allocate resources to ensure enough agents work to meet the demand.
Similarly, a contact centre can leverage advanced ‘call-back’ features such as Maintain Position in Queue to reduce abandonments. This feature creates a better customer experience as it facilitates customers to not wait on hold for an agent but to receive a call-back when they reach the front of the queue.
Furthermore, organisations can use dialer technology to reduce abandonment rates. Predictive dialers use advanced algorithms to forecast when agents will become available and ready to make their next call. This assists in maximising contact rates while reducing the chances of abandoned calls occurring. Therefore, implementing these strategies can help your organisation to reduce abandonment rates.
Other metrics an outbound contact centre manager should measure include:
- contact rates
- list penetration rate per campaign and
- the number of sales made.
The capabilities and performance of the outbound dialler used can influence these three measurements. ipSCAPE’s powerful outbound dialler offers progressive, preview and predictive dialler types to support in driving sales. Furthermore, contact centre managers can monitor the total number of calls and contacts made, how long an agent spends in each status and the total sales through ipSCAPE’s live reports and wallboard features. Analysing these figures can support contact centre managers in understanding how well their outbound dialler is helping their sales team to drive conversions and uncover whether the dialling strategy needs to be adjusted to meet KPIs.
Overall, fulfilling the role of a contact centre manager requires a broad skill set, including analytical skills, to successfully benchmark and measure your team’s performance. Utilising the right contact centre software can arm you with the right tools to measure and report your team’s performance effectively.
If you’d like to discover how ipSCAPE can help optimise your contact centre processes by understanding and actioning key metrics using the outbound dialler and live reports & dashboard module, get in touch today.
ipSCAPE is a feature-rich, scalable cloud communication technology with advanced integration capabilities. We help businesses connect with their customers through multi-channel communications, including Voice, Web Chat, Email, SMS, IVR and other emerging channels.