What Causes High Average Call Handle (ACH) Time and How to Reduce It?

Time is one of the major assets in a contact center that customer support agents are responsible for taking care of. A customer service agent receives multiple calls in a day with different queries. Some callers want to know the order status, some want to return the order, and more. An agent has to solve every problem skillfully and within a specific timeline otherwise it negatively impacts the business. However, the dedicated timeline for a call or Average Call Handle (ACH) Time gets exceeded in some cases which cause

• Business loss
• Impacts agents’ productivity
• Leaves unsatisfied customers, and whatnot

Now the question is, what is the Average Call Handle Time and why is it so important in a contact center? Read further to know about this crucial contact center KPI.

What is Average Call Handle (ACH) Time or AHT?

Average Call Handle (ACH) Time or Average Handle Time (AHT) is one of the key metrics of the contact center that calculates the total time consumed when a customer initiates the call till the time he gets the final resolution. This duration includes hold time, talk time, call transfer, and post-call work.

How to Calculate Average Call Handle Time?

If your Average Call Handle Time is low, your performance is high and your customers are satisfied. But, if it is going higher than the given timeframe you need to think of ways to improve it. But, before that, it’s crucial to know what causes higher ACH or AHT.

What Causes High Average Call Handle Time?

There are certain reasons that cause higher Average Call Handle (ACH) time, impact agents’ productivity, and deteriorate customer experience.

⦿ Too Much Time in Explanation

Average Call Handle Time increases when the agent takes a lot of time explaining the solution and struggles to resolve customers’ queries, such as instructing them to solve technical issues. Long explanations increase the ACH time and impact agents’ productivity. The customer waiting on the other side of the call also needs to put extra effort into understanding the agent’s instructions, leading to an unsatisfactory customer experience.

⦿ No Compiled Data

Agents have to work on multiple data when assisting customers. Toggling between screens, finding solutions from scattered databases, and using multiple applications increase the search time and impact the Average Call Handle Time.

⦿ Lack of Agent Training

Training agents is crucial in the contact center because untrained customer support executives take a long time to resolve customer queries as they don’t have in-depth knowledge of the issue. It increases the ACH time and makes callers frustrated.

⦿ Technological Gaps

Today’s customer needs quick responses to their queries and a minor delay directly impacts their experience. To meet customers’ expectations businesses need advanced customer support tools. However, even today some contact centers face a lack of fully integrated tools which impacts the call handling time and creates a technological gap.

How to Reduce the Pain Point of ACH Time?

⦿ Create an Insightful Knowledge Base

Having a comprehensive knowledge base reduces the search time, agents quickly figure out which resource to refer to for which type of query. Having access to the right knowledge document reduces ACH time and improves agents’ productivity. It contains updated information about the company’s offerings, common customer queries, and more.

⦿ Train Agents

Agents need training to understand the business and its customers. They must have an understanding of the best ways to resolve customer queries and this is only possible if they are trained well. With specialized coaching and advanced business applications, like – ticketing tools, CRM, etc., agents manage customer queries efficiently which reduces the ACH time.

⦿ Monitor Agents’ Performance

Another way to reduce Average Call Handling time is to monitor agents’ performance using monitoring and reporting tools, like iVision Wallboard. This will give a clear picture of agents’ performance with actionable insights and help supervisors create effective strategies to boost it. Once the teams’ productivity is on track it automatically reduces the Average Handling Time.

⦿ Invest in an Agent Support Tool

Agents need to have a clear idea of how they are performing, where they have to improve, and what they need to assist callers effectively. To deliver outstanding results they must have technologically advanced tools, such as – Agent Accelerator – A Unified Agent Desktop. Such tools come with beneficial features like – a single interface, screen-pop, knowledge management, etc., and numerous tool integrations that help agents reduce their ACH time and improve customer experience.

Conclusion

Average Call Handle time is one of the crucial factors in the contact center that impacts agents’ productivity and customer experience. An agent always aims to meet this KPI so that he/she can fulfill or exceed the expectations of the supervisor and offer exceptional results. Using advanced tools by NovelVox helps agents and the contact center deliver the best customer service and establish a renowned brand name in the industry.