Call answer rate: calculating and optimizing it in a call center
Every missed call is a lost opportunity and a potentially dissatisfied customer. The answer rate, or quality of service (QS), is a key indicator that measures your team's responsiveness to incoming calls. A high rate reflects a high-performing team and satisfied customers, while a low rate may signal critical issues such as understaffing or poor schedule management.
This article reveals everything you need to know to master this essential KPI: from its definition to its calculation, including the factors that influence it and the strategies to optimize it. Dive into our practical tips to transform your call center into a model of efficiency and customer satisfaction.
Definition of the answer rate
The answer rate, or quality of service (QS), is a key indicator in customer relationship centers. It measures the effectiveness of your team in answering incoming calls. More precisely, it is the percentage of calls handled in relation to the total number of calls received.
The answer rate can be expressed in seconds or in number of rings before the call is answered. This depends on how your center measures the speed of response.
This KPI helps you evaluate the effectiveness of your customer relationship center in order to maintain high-quality customer service. A high answer rate means that few calls are missed and is a positive sign of performance. Conversely, a low rate may indicate problems such as understaffing or inefficient processes.
It is therefore crucial to monitor this metric to make the necessary adjustments and achieve the customer satisfaction objectives of your call center.
Calculating the answer rate
To calculate the answer rate, you must first determine the total number of incoming calls over a given period. Then, identify the number of calls handled by your agents.
The formula commonly used is as follows:
Answer Rate = (Number of Calls Handled / Total Number of Calls Received) × 100
As part of the Afnor NF Service Relation Client certification, the reference calculation for the answer rate is a little more nuanced. It does not take into account callers who hung up 15 seconds after choosing to be connected with an agent:
Quality of Service = Number of contacts processed / (Total contacts presented - Number of contacts who hung up within the first 15 seconds after choosing to contact an advisor)
What is a good answer rate?
A good answer rate is essential to ensure a positive customer experience. When your answer rate is high, it improves overall satisfaction and your customers are more likely to remain loyal. Conversely, if the answer rate is low, it can damage your customer relationship and increase the risk of churn.
In general, an answer rate of at least 85% is considered satisfactory. Ideally, it should exceed 90%.
In the case of Afnor certification, ensuring exemplary quality of service is essential. According to the NF345 standard, companies are expected to have an answer rate greater than or equal to 88%.
It is important, however, to monitor this metric over short periods such as by day and by hour. This will allow you to accurately identify the days of the week and times of day when the answer rate is below your objectives. Refining your monitoring in this way will help you determine the sources of inefficiency and take the necessary measures to ensure efficient customer service at all times.
7 factors that can decrease your answer rate
1. Understaffing
One of the most obvious factors of a low answer rate is understaffing. If the number of agents available to answer calls is insufficient compared to the volume of incoming calls, it is inevitable that some calls will not be answered.
2. Poor schedule management
Inefficient agent scheduling can also lead to poor service quality. Failure to properly anticipate call peaks and schedule agents accordingly can result in overload periods where not all calls can be handled.
3. High call handling time
Another factor that can negatively influence the pick-up rate is the average call handling time (AHT). If agents spend too much time on each call, it reduces their availability to answer subsequent calls.
4. Lack of advisor training
Poorly trained or under-skilled agents may struggle to handle calls effectively, which can prolong handling time and thus decrease the number of calls handled per person.
5. Technical Issues
Technical issues, such as system failures, network problems, or misconfigured call center software, can also negatively affect the pick-up rate. Ensuring regular system maintenance and investing in reliable, high-performance technologies is essential to minimize interruptions and maximize the efficiency of your call center.
6. Lack of agent motivation
Agent motivation plays a crucial role in their performance. A stressful work environment, lack of recognition, or inadequate working conditions can demotivate agents, making them less effective in handling calls. Implementing recognition programs, offering incentives, and creating a positive work environment can help improve agent motivation and, consequently, the pick-up rate.
7. Unexpected call volume
Sometimes, a call center may be overwhelmed by an unusual call volume, for example, due to a marketing campaign, a major technical problem with a product, or an unforeseen event. Having contingency plans and additional resources in place to manage these situations can help maintain a high pick-up rate even during periods of high demand.
How to optimize the Quality of Service (QS) of your contact center?
Analyze your calls with Speech Analytics
Speech analytics, such as that offered by Batvoice AI, is a powerful tool for improving pick-up rates in customer relationship centers. By analyzing conversations between agents and customers, it helps identify recurring problems and anticipate frequent reasons for calls, thereby reducing the volume of incoming calls. This technology also helps supervisors measure the performance of your agents in order to better identify their shortcomings and offer them targeted training that will improve their call handling.
In addition, analyzing your voice data ensures continuous monitoring of call quality as part of Quality Monitoring, allowing for rapid interventions to correct problems and maintain consistent agent performance. Finally, by better understanding customer needs and expectations, call centers can offer a better customer experience, reducing repeat calls and freeing up agents to answer new calls more quickly.
Adjust the schedules of your call center agents
Effective schedule management can significantly improve the pick-up rate. Use forecasting tools to analyze call trends and adjust agent schedules accordingly. This ensures that there are always enough agents available during peak demand periods.
Continuously train and develop agent skills
Investing in continuous agent training is crucial. Well-trained agents are more efficient and can handle calls more quickly, reducing waiting time for subsequent callers. Offer regular training tailored to the individual needs of each call center agent on communication techniques, call management, and the use of contact center systems.
Anticipate call volume peaks
Prepare to handle call volume peaks by having additional agents on standby or using temporary agents during periods of high demand. Automatic callback features can help manage calls on hold and improve the pick-up rate by reducing the number of abandoned calls.
Improve agent motivation and engagement
Finally, agent motivation is a key factor in improving productivity and ensuring high service quality. Create a positive work environment by recognizing and rewarding outstanding performance. Offer professional development opportunities and ensure that agents feel valued and supported.
