Adherence to schedule in the call center

Adherence to schedule in the call center

During an eight-hour shift in the call center with a 30-minute lunch and two 15-minute breaks, is it reasonable to expect my customer service representatives to be in "ready mode" six and a half hours of the day? What is the norm?

    Requires Free Membership to View

    When you register, you'll begin receiving targeted emails from my team of award-winning editorial writers on the latest customer relationship management (CRM)and call center technology issues today. Our goal is to keep you informed on the hottest issues facing this fast-changing industry.

    Hannah Smalltree, Editorial Director

    By submitting your registration information to SearchCRM.com you agree to receive email communications from TechTarget and TechTarget partners. We encourage you to read our Privacy Policy which contains important disclosures about how we collect and use your registration and other information. If you reside outside of the United States, by submitting this registration information you consent to having your personal data transferred to and processed in the United States. Your use of SearchCRM.com is governed by our Terms of Use. You may contact us at webmaster@TechTarget.com.

The issue you are describing is often called "adherence to schedule." What you call "ready mode" would include time on calls, wrap-up, waiting for calls, and any outbound follow-up required. Most call centers will define a target percentage that allows some cushion, as you are indicating by allowing an extra half hour beyond the known scheduled lunch and breaks – which is fairly typical (93% adherence to schedule). The other factors you might need to consider are things like team meetings and any training, which may increase the off-phone time. Some call centers will go further with their schedule tracking and consider "compliance" – measuring whether people were unavailable for those breaks and lunches not just the right amount of time, but at the scheduled times.

This was first published in April 2007