Abandoned Call :
Also called a Lost Call. The caller hangs up before reaching an agent.

Adherence to Schedule :
A general term that refers to how well agents adhere to their schedules. It includes - a) time spent on taking calls during a shift, including the time spent handling calls and time spent waiting for calls to arrive (availability) and b) the amount of time an agent was available to take calls

After-Call Work (ACW) :
Also called Wrap-up and Post Call Processing (PCP). Work that is necessitated by and immediately follows an inbound transaction. Often includes entering data, filling out forms and making outbound calls necessary to complete the transaction. The agent is unavailable to receive another inbound call while in this mode.

Agent :
The person who handles incoming or outgoing calls. Also referred to as customer service representative (CSR), telephone sales or service representative (TSR), rep, associate, consultant, engineer, operator, technician, account executive, team member, customer service professional, staff member, attendant and specialist.

Agent Group :
Also called Split, Gate, Queue or Skills Group. A group of agents that share a common set of skills, such as being able to handle customer complaints.

Agent out Call :
An outbound call placed by an agent.

Agent Status :
The mode an agent is in (Talk Time, After-Call Work, Unavailable, etc).

Answer Supervision :
The signal sent by the ACD or other device to the local or long distance carrier to accept a call. That is when billing for either the caller or the call centre will begin, if long distance charges apply.

Answered Call :
When referring to an agent group, a call counted as answered when it reaches an agent.

Audiotex :
A voice processing capability that enables callers to automatically access pre-recorded announcements.

Auto Wrap-up :
An ACD feature whereby the program automatically put agents into “After-Call Work” after they finish “talk time” and disconnect calls.

Automated Attendant :
A voice processing capability that automates the attendant function. The system prompts callers to respond to choices (e.g., press one for sales, two for support) and then coordinates with the ACD to send callers to specific destinations.

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) :
The underlying factor for any call centre application. ACD offers a method for distributing incoming calls efficiently and equitably among available agents. With ACD, incoming calls can be directed to the first idle or most idle agent within a group of agents. Agents in an ACD environment are assigned to a hunt group, a group of agents handling the same types of calls. A hunt group is especially useful when you expect a high number of calls to a particular phone number. A hunt group might consist of people trained to handle calls on specific topics.

Automatic Number Identification (ANI) :
A telephone network feature that passes the number of the phone the caller is using to the call center, real-time. ANI is delivered from long distance companies. Caller ID is the local phone company version of ANI. ANI is a North American term, and Calling Line Identification (CLI) is an alternative term used elsewhere.

Auxiliary Work State :
An agent work state that is typically not associated with handling telephone calls. When agents are in an auxiliary mode, they will not receive inbound calls.

Average Delay of Delayed Calls :
The total delay for all calls divided by the number of calls that had to wait in queue.

Average Handle Time (AHT) :
The sum of the Average Talk Time and Average After-Call Work for a specified time period.

Average Holding Time on Trunks (AHT) :
The average time inbound transactions occupy the trunks for. (Talk Time + Delay Time)/Calls Received. AHT is also an acronym for Average Handling Time, which has a different meaning.

Average Speed of Answer (ASA) :
Also called Average Delay. The total Delay divided by total number of calls.

Average Time to Abandonment :
The average time those callers wait in queue before abandoning.

Base Staff :
Also called Seated Agents. The minimum number of agents required to achieve service level and response time objectives for given period of time. Seated agent calculations assume that agents will be in their seats for the entire period of time. Therefore, schedules need to add in extra people to accommodate breaks, absenteeism and other factors that will keep agents from the phones.

Beep Tone :
An audible notification that a call has arrived (also called Zip Tone). Beep tone can also refer to the audible notification that a call is being monitored.

Blockage :
Callers blocked from entering a queue.

Blocked Call :
A call that cannot be connected immediately because a) no circuit is available at the time the call arrives, or b) the ACD is programmed to block calls from entering the queue when the queue backs up beyond a defined threshold.

Busy Hour :
A telephone traffic engineering term, referring to the hour of time in which a trunk group carries the most traffic during the day. The average busy hour reflects the average over a period of days, such as two weeks. Busy Hour has little use for incoming call centres, which require more specific resource calculation methodologies.

Call Blending :
Combines traditionally separate inbound and outbound agent groups into one group of agents responsible for handling both inbound and outbound contacts. A system that is capable of call blending automatically puts agents who are making outbound calls into the inbound mode and vice versa, as necessitated by the incoming call load.

Call By Call Routing :
The process of routing each call to the optimum destination according to real-time conditions.

Call Forcing :
An ACD feature that automatically delivers calls to agents who are available and ready to take calls. They hear a notification that the call has arrived (e.g. a beep tone), but do not have to press a button to answer the call.

Call Vectoring :
A versatile method of routing incoming calls that can be combined with automatic call distribution for improved efficiency. A Call Vector is a series of call-processing steps (such as providing ringing tones, busy tones, music, announcements, and queuing calls) that define how calls are handled and routed. The steps, called Vector Commands, determine the type of processing those specific calls will undergo. Vector commands may direct calls to on-premises or off-premises destinations, to any skill or hunt group, or to a specific call treatment such as an announcement, forced disconnect, forced busy, or music. With combinations of different vector commands, incoming callers can be treated differently depending on the time/day, the Expected Wait Time (EWT), importance of the call, or other criteria.

Calls In Queue :
A real-time report that refers to the number of calls received by the ACD system but not yet connected to an agent.

Centum Call Seconds (CCS) :
100 call seconds, a unit of telephone traffic measurement. The first C is the Roman numeral for 100. 1 hour = 1 Erlang = 60 minutes = 36 CCS.

Collateral Duties :
Non-phone tasks (e.g., data entry) that are flexible, and can be scheduled for periods when call load is slow.

Conditional Routing :
The capability of the ACD to route calls based on current conditions. It is based on "if-then" programming statements. For example, "if the number of calls in agent group 1 exceeds 10 and there are at least 2 available agents in group two, and then route the calls to group two."

Controlled Busies :
The capability of the ACD to generate busy signals when the queue backs up beyond a programmable threshold.

Cost of Delay :
The money you pay to queue callers, assuming you have toll-free service.

Cost Per Call :
Total costs (fixed and variable) divided by total calls for a given period of time.