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There is an issue with agent utilization in the contact center, causing inefficiencies and negatively impacting performance. Specifically, there are instances where agents are not fully utilized and periods of time when they are overwhelmed with incoming calls, leading to increased wait times and reduced customer satisfaction. Additionally, there is often a mismatch between the skills and expertise of the agents and the needs of the customers, resulting in inadequate support and resolution of customer issues.
These issues with agent utilization can have serious consequences for the organization, including reduced customer satisfaction, decreased productivity, and potential financial losses. Inefficient utilization of agents can lead to frustrated customers who may choose to take their business elsewhere, while an overwhelmed contact center may struggle to keep up with the volume of incoming calls, leading to long wait times and decreased efficiency. Furthermore, a mismatch between the skills and expertise of the agents and the needs of the customers can result in a poor customer experience and reduced trust in the organization.
To address these issues with agent utilization in the contact center, a number of solutions can be implemented. These may include optimizing the scheduling and routing of incoming calls to ensure that agents are fully utilized and not overwhelmed, as well as implementing training and development programs to ensure that agents have the necessary skills and expertise to effectively handle customer inquiries and issues. Additionally, implementing technology such as chatbots and artificial intelligence can help to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the contact center, while also enhancing the overall customer experience.

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Agent utilization is a key performance metric in the contact center, and one that managers should keep a close eye on. There are a number of reasons why agent utilization is important, from ensuring quality customer service to maximizing efficiency and productivity. In this blog post, we'll take a closer look at what agent utilization is and why it's so important in the contact center. Stay tuned!


In this blog, we will discuss the following:


1. Define agent utilization and its importance in the contact center

2. Describe how agent utilization is calculated

3. Offer tips on how to improve agent utilization in the contact center

4. Discuss the benefits of improved agent utilization

5. Share case studies or examples of businesses that have successfully increased their agent utilization



Agent utilization and its importance in the contact center

Agent utilization is an important consideration for every contact center. It refers to the infrastructure and resources needed, such as staff levels, systems, technology and processes in order to effectively help customers achieve their desired outcomes. Optimizing agent utilization involves assessing how many agents are available during particular peak times to handle customer inquiries so that customers’ needs can be successfully met while also ensuring that operational costs stay within the organization’s budgetary goals. Good agent utilization is essential for a contact center's ability to provide exceptional customer service while maintaining efficiency. Being mindful of agent utilization helps keep wait times low, increase first contact resolution rates and improve overall customer experience.


How agent utilization is calculated

Agent utilization is a metric used to measure how efficiently an organization's customer service representatives are using their work time. It can be calculated by determining the ratio of total available time to total utilized time.

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That equation usually looks like this: Total hours worked divided by total hours available multiplied by 100 percent.

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In addition, it's also possible to calculate utilization based on actual talk or 'handle' times during customer calls or chats. This number helps indicate how much time is being spent productively versus procrastinating or performing unrelated tasks. Utilization numbers can help leaders understand where their team stands in terms of performance and productivity, and what areas need adjusting in order for everyone to work more efficiently.


Tips on how to improve agent utilization in the contact center

One way to improve agent utilization in the contact center is to analyze call data. Analyzing call length and frequency can help identify trends and common customer issues and provide valuable insights for training opportunities. Investment in resources such as automation and artificial intelligence can also alleviate a large contact center burden by providing customers with instant responses and access to information. Additionally, empowering agents with decision-making abilities by reducing red tape also helps keep staff active and engaged, resulting in higher levels of productivity in the overall organization. Ultimately, investing time and resources into developing creative solutions for what was once a tedious process can free up agents to handle more complex cases, helping improve agent utilization in the contact center.


The benefits of improved agent utilization

Improved agent utilization offers several key benefits to businesses that employ customer service representatives and agents. Increased efficiency is a major advantage, allowing customer support teams to work at their highest capacity. Automation tools and improved processes can facilitate the relocation of non-value added tasks on agents' plates, allowing them to focus more energy on those responsibilities that actually drive value for the team. This can lead to improved customer experience, ultimately leading to increased loyalty and greater satisfaction ratings from customers who have an easier time of getting the help they need. With improved agent utilization, organizations are better equipped to tackle difficult customer issues as well as keep up with changing consumer demands.


Case studies or examples of businesses that have successfully increased their agent utilization

Many businesses are discovering the power of investing in their agents and team utilization efforts. A great case study that exemplifies successful agent utilization is USAA, a financial services company. USAA uses sophisticated analytics tools to not only identify its top-performing agents but also to more effectively assign tasks to other agents. This has enabled them to improve their customer response rate across the board. Another example of a successful business increasing agent utilization is Microsoft's Xbox Support team which applied an AI-driven scoring system to assist agents with diagnostics and better distributes workload throughout its support team operations. By applying AI and automation to tasks that can be handled by machines, Xbox Support was able to free up time for its support staff spend more quality time assisting users with their requests. These examples demonstrate how ensuring your team's efficiency pays dividends for customer satisfaction and retention as well as overall service excellence.


In order to get the most out of your contact center, it’s important to understand and optimize agent utilization. This involves calculating agent utilization and then taking steps to improve it. By improving agent utilization, businesses can enjoy a number of benefits, including increased efficiency, improved customer service, and reduced costs. Case studies or examples of businesses that have successfully increased their agent utilization would be helpful in illustrating these points.


If you want to learn more about how to increase your contact center’s agent utilization, subscribe to our blog for updates!

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Calculating agent utilization is an important part of any business strategy, as it can help you to understand how well your resources are being used. By improving agent utilization, you can see a variety of benefits, including increased efficiency and lower costs.
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Sample List of Benefits:

  • Reduced Wait Times
  • Reduced Abandonment Rates
  • Reduced Average Handle Times
  • Improved CSAT and Client Experience
  • Reduced Escalations
  • Reduced Ticket Backlogs
  • Attained Service Levels
  • Improved Employee Experience
  • Reduced Schedule Adherence / Attrition Issues
  • Reduced Agent Burnout Issues
  • Reduced Costs

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Sample List of Observations:

  • Increasing Wait Times
  • Increasing Abandonment Rates
  • Increasing Average Handle Times
  • Decreasing CSAT / Poor Client Experience
  • Increasing Escalations
  • Increasing Ticket Backlogs
  • Missed Service Levels
  • Poor Employee Experience
  • Schedule Adherence / Attrition Issues
  • Agent Burnout Issues
  • Increasing Costs

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Sample List of Recommendations:

  • Improve Workload Management to ensure changes in workloads such as volume, type, and time of day are understood.
  • Improve Skills/Training Management to ensure staff are prepared to handle the types of workloads.
  • Improve Resource/Staffing Management to ensure adequate staffing is in place to handle the volume and type of workloads. Ensure salaries are set correctly.
  • Improve Quality Management to understand how the workloads are being handled.
  • Improve Knowledge Management to ensure all staff have access to the necessary information to handle the workloads.
  • Improve Technology & Tools Management to ensure staff have access to working tools to perform their tasks.
  • Improve Human Resource Management to ensure staff are engaged and feedback is obtained and provided.
  • Improve Service Level Management by understanding the impact of utilization on SLA attainment.
  • Improve Reporting & Measurements Management to track and trend utilization rates.
  • Improve Analytics & Optimization Management to harvest insights from utilization data.
  • Improve Continual Service Improvement Management to collect, action, and track utilization improvement initiatives.
  • Improve Issues/Escalation Management tracking and trending to identify specific areas of concern for clients with respect to utilization.
  • Improve Queue Management to ensure real-time management of utilization rates.
  • Improve Staff Utilization Management to ensure management and governance systems are in place to manage utilization.
  • Implement Self-Service, Automation and Sense and Heal Initiatives to implement alternative intelligent channels of support.
  • Implement Operational Management, First Line Management, Upline Management and Governance systems to establish the necessary systems and controls to deliver the expected results.
  • Implement Employee Engagement, Enablement, and Empowerment systems to ensure Employees have all available resources for success.

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Sample List of Assessment Questions:

  • Do you review wait times against average handle times to identify impacts due to poor staff utilization rates?
  • Do you review abandonment rates against average handle times and wait times to identify the impact due to poor staff utilization rates?
  • Do you track and trend DISSAT surveys due to poor staff utilization issues?
  • Do you track and trend Escalations due to poor staff utilization issues?
  • Do you review Ticket Backlogs to see the impact due to poor staff utilization rates?
  • Do you review the impact of poor staff utilization on missed service levels?
  • Do you have performance review discussions and regular meetings with employees to provide and receive feedback regarding poor staff utilization?
  • Do you review schedule adherence and attrition data to assess the impact due to poor staff utilization rates?
  • Do you conduct regular reviews of key data points to assess for potential agent burnout issues due to high staff utilization?
  • Do you review financial metrics on a regular basis to assess the impact of poor staff utilization rates?
  • Do you review workloads and staffing levels on a regular basis to assess the impact of staff utilization rates?

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Exercise: What elements of the Operational Management Framework do you think have an impact on Agent Utilization?

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