Survey Reveals Agents Average 49 Minutes of Idle Time Daily

According to a survey of contact center leaders, the average amount of idle time per day per employee is nearly an hour, as respondents report 49 minutes daily per agent on average. Knowlagent, a leading agent productivity solution for the world’s 10 million call center agents, released this and other findings from its 2011 Customer Contact Center Productivity Survey.
Other survey results include:

Management Challenges: Culture Shapes Performance
Seventy-three percent of companies say contact centers are the company “face” to customers. Fifty-seven percent of call center managers are experiencing trouble finding or keeping employees with the right skills for their centers. Additionally, 41 percent say handling increased call volumes is the top contact center challenges for the year ahead. Fifty-nine percent also see productivity as a major challenge in the upcoming year.

Downtime: Measuring Performance and Productivity
A majority of respondents measure both contact center employee “performance,” based on the final results of agents’ work (63 percent), and “productivity,” based on measurable output (52 percent). Leading performance measurement is quality (36 percent), followed by first call resolution (35 percent). The leading productivity measurement is average handle time (32 percent) followed by completed calls per day, month and week (30 percent).

Training and Coaching: Lean and Personal
The survey found 50 percent of call center leaders say they deliver training infrequently or not often, while 30 percent regularly schedule one-on-one coaching. Sixty-nine percent indicated training directly impacts customer satisfaction and 62 percent say it affects sales. While social media interactions are increasing, only 13 percent indicate call center staff receive training in this area.

Technology Challenges: Keeping up with Growing Channels
Thirty percent of respondents see their contact centers’ technology as behind comparable contact centers in their industry or region. Another 46 percent of respondents say getting a better return on investment (ROI) in technology they already own is also a main challenge in the upcoming year. When it comes to social media, results are mixed. Only 24 percent of call centers respond to customer inquiries via social network channels, such as Facebook or Twitter. Twenty-six percent of respondents say their companies maintain separate, distinct teams to engage customers through these channels, and another 26 percent say other departments - such as marketing - tend to take up the task themselves.

More information and research on the contact center industry can be found at www.SupportIndustry.com