Ask The CRM Expert: Questions & Answers

Tips for calculating first call resolution (FCR) in the call center

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I read your book, Call Center Technology Demystified. I have some questions: What is the most common way of determining first call resolution (FCR)? How do you measure FCR? And, should it be based on monthly or daily percentages?
There are a number of different ways to calculate FCR in the call center, none of them are perfect in my opinion, and I'm not sure there is a "most common" way. FCR needs to be defined based on available tools and an agreed to process and way to measure it for a given call center's environment.

Some will simply use call center agent questions ("Have I successfully addressed all your needs?"... "Is there anything else I can help you with?") or use agent perception to capture the outcome. Others will use contact records – either through phone call automatic number identification (ANI) matching, the contact tracking, or other means – to see if customers called back in a given time period, or to assess if the record was noted as closed (resolved) or escalated or noted for call back. Others use surveys or quality monitoring as a representative sample to assess overall FCR.

As far as the frequency for measuring FCR, that is something that should be defined as part of a metrics strategy. Generally you don't want to be too granular, as an off day with a problem (e.g., system availability) could result in poor performance. However, too broad a timeframe can disguise problems. Some will use a balance that looks at more granular timeframes but allows for a certain number of missed intervals.

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