My company is an inbound call center. What is the difference between average handle time (AHT) and calls per hour as it relates to measuring a CSR's production?
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Hannah Smalltree, Editorial Director
AHT (Average Handle Time -- for our readers) and calls per hour are certainly related. However, there are some important considerations if you're looking for productivity measures. AHT is typically looked at across a broader timeframe than an hour. Some will measure it, while others prefer to just monitor it (trends up or down, anomalies, a flag for training?). It reflects the efficiency of an agent if you have a realistic target. Calls per hour is, in my view, a bit dangerous as a key performance indicator, because it could drive people to speed through calls and thus compromise service to the customer, or do worse things such as answer a call and hang up without saying anything - thus pegging a call but not serving the customer at all. Productivity measures should be considered carefully for the behavior they might create, and balanced with other metrics of quality and customer satisfaction.
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This was first published in September 2004