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Let’s start with the basics first. What exactly are call center reports? We are talking about to the process by which managers measure the performance and efficiency of their call center.

Call center reports usually consist of several critical key performance indicators (KPIs), which are derived from a multitude of data streams.

Typically, these data streams include the interactive voice response (IVR), automatic call dispatcher (ACD), and workforce management system (WFM).

Once that data is collected, it can be organized and categorized into your KPIs.

Below we provide some examples of good KPIs to track in your call center.

Call center reports: these KPIs must be included

The KPIs below are the basis of good call center reports.

Business Critical KPIs

Net Promoter Score (NPS)

This is similar to customer satisfaction (CSAT) and is all about the happiness of your customers.

However, the NPS has a business-oriented twist: it measures the likelihood that your customers will recommend your product to someone else.

This is of course important, because a high number translates into greater visibility of your product.

Average turnover rate

This quantifies the turnover rate among your call center agents.

Call centers often have a reputation for high turnover, but that doesn’t have to be the case for your company.

By emphasizing cohesion within your team, turnover will decrease and efficiency will increase. A win-win situation!

Critical KPIs for your customers.

First Contact Resolution (FCR).

This metric measures the rate at which your customers’ issues are resolved by the first agent they speak to.

The bottom line is that the higher this percentage, the less frustrated your customers will be with your business as a whole. Everyone likes when their problems are solved quickly, right?

You can increase this figure through skilled-based routing, which in practice means that a customer who had a positive experience with an agent last time, will automatically be forwarded to that agent the next time.

Service level

The service level of a call center is determined by the percentage of incoming calls that agents answer within a specified time.

It is usually given as a pair of numbers, the most popular of which is the vaunted global 80/20 call center standard. An 80/20 service level for your call center means that 80 percent of incoming calls are answered by your agents within 20 seconds.

It’s an easy metric to measure, and one that gives a good, broad idea of the attentiveness and efficiency of your call center staff.

Average dropout rate

This KPI should not be missing from your call center reports and measures the percentage of customers who hang up the phone before they are connected with an agent.

It depends heavily on how busy and well-staffed your call center is – the more agents there are to handle incoming calls, the faster your customers will be connected to an agent and the less likely they are to hang up before they’ve spoken to someone.

5-8% is a good measure to aim for in terms of the average dropout rate.

Blocked calls

This is the percentage of customers who called your company and heard a busy tone.

The percentage value is directly related to how well-staffed a company is, because customers only hear a busy tone when all of a company’s agents are busy helping other people.

Hearing a busy signal is frustrating for anyone, especially when trying to contact a company. This number should therefore be as low as possible.

Average waiting time

You get this by dividing the total amount of time customers spent in queues in a given period by the number of calls answered during that period.

It’s an easy metric to calculate and will give you a good idea of how satisfied your customers are with the attentiveness of your agents.

According to a recent survey by the International Customer Management Institute , two-thirds of consumers would like to be on hold for just two minutes or less before speaking to an agent. It is clear that it is important to keep your average waiting time low!

Critical KPIs for processes

Average response speed

This figure represents the average time it takes your agents to answer the phone, measured from the start of the call process.

This is the time without the time it takes to navigate through your IVR.

It’s a pretty neat measure of your agents’ ability to handle phone calls smoothly as they come in.

Average call duration

Call duration is one of the most important KPIs for call center efficiency.

The average duration of inbound and outbound calls gives you an important insight into how proficient your agents are at handling their responsibilities on a day-to-day basis.

If you consistently hit the 4-minute call duration benchmark, you can rest assured that your agents will resolve customer issues in a timely manner.

Average Handling Time

This metric measures the duration of your agents’ interactions with customers, from start to finish. The clock starts when your customer picks up the phone and ends when your agent is ready to take a new call.

That means it includes the time a customer spends in a queue, navigating your IVR system and speaking with an agent, in addition to the time your agents spend documenting necessary information after a call.

It’s a good measure to evaluate the efficiency of your agents, but be careful not to overemphasize a low AHT – rushed agents tend to make more mistakes and often provide a lower quality of customer service.

You need to set a benchmark that makes sense for your business and have your agents aim for that from month to month.

Average working time after a call

After each call, an agent has to deal with all sorts of important quasi-secret tasks: finishing transaction reports, updating databases, reporting problems and the like.

The time it takes to complete these tasks is measured and recorded as the average after call work time KPI. While it can certainly be reduced through efficiency-focused training sessions, certain call center software can also help.

For example, Steam-connect has a number of useful features that can help your agents handle post-call tasks quickly and easily.

Arrival rate

This will give you an idea of when your call center will be handling the highest and lowest volume of incoming calls.

Tracking this KPI helps you create informed, smart work schedules for your agents, so you’re always adequately staffed, even on the busiest days.

Best practices for your call center reporting

Good. You now know which KPIs should not be missing in your call center reports, but what next?

1. Focus on the KPIs

KPIs are tracked and regularly submitted to management for a reason: they are the best way to identify problem areas and initiate targeted improvement initiatives.

They cover a wide range of performance areas and give you a comprehensive overview of how your call center functions.

Isn’t it going well somewhere? Then you see that immediately.

KPIs should be your guideline. You have to wake up with it and go to bed with it. In a manner of speaking then. Just make sure you make all your decisions based on your KPIs, because an informed decision has the best chance of success.

2. Set benchmarks

Just keeping track of your KPIs will get you nowhere, you have to benchmark them against industry standards.

Defining these benchmarks for your company requires a lot of market research, but it is definitely worth it.

With these benchmarks you can put your call center reports into context, and you can clearly identify the areas where you need to improve.

Once you have those areas in mind, you can start devising a strategy for improving your business.

3. Look at the bigger picture

With all that data to keep an eye on, it’s easy to get caught up in all the trifles in the performance figures.

Take a step back and look at the bigger picture.

You run a contact department that keeps your employees and customers happy and helps your company achieve its goals.

There are many ways to achieve this – through specific training, hiring additional staff, implementing modern, cloud-based customer contact software , and more.

Be flexible in addressing issues identified in your call center reports. Be open to new ideas and you’ll be more likely to find something that works well for your business.

4. Set goals and follow them

You cannot progress without goals.

Once you’ve reviewed all of the KPIs in your contact center report and compared them to the benchmarks you’ve established, it’s time to establish a list of goals for improvement.

Do you have an exceptionally high average handling time? Schedule efficiency training for your agents so they can start bringing that number down.

What if your average after call working time KPI goes through the roof?

Consider using modern contact center software like Steam-connect, which can help reduce the amount of time agents spend on post-call work by automating most of it.

Whatever you choose to do, make sure to keep track of everything over time. So you can quickly see what works for your business – and keep doing it!

Examples of call center reports

The best way to compile your reports is by using software such as Steam-connect . Steam connect allows managers to sit back as the numbers roll in.

The total number of calls your agents answered, the total number of missed calls that slipped through the net, the average length of your agents’ calls, and finally the average time your customers waited in a given time period.

You can use all this data for your reports, or just for what is important to you.

You can also filter your data by agent so that you immediately know who the best performing agent is.

You can see the total number of calls, the average call duration, and the total number of incoming and outgoing calls for a particular agent.

You can also put your agents side by side to get a broad picture of your team’s performance.

If you want to highlight the performance of a particular agent over time in your call center report, the agent productivity dashboard makes it quick and easy to compile that data.

The test and assessment process

Finally, we come to the testing and review process. This checks the veracity of the data you have collected and confirms your KPIs. You do this in a number of steps.

1. Compile preliminary reports

The very first stage of the process is the development of your first draft, “alpha” reports. These will be a bit messy, and for good reason: you’ll be collecting a large amount of raw data and trying to categorize it into separate (and actionable!) KPIs.

Once you have compiled your data and KPIs, you can proceed to the next step.

2. Double check your numbers

The calculations in your reports are prone to human error, because well… they are performed by humans. This is a normal phenomenon and therefore checking your calculations and formulas deserves its own step in the process.

You should circulate your contact center report through your design and analysis departments so that people have a chance to spot any math errors.

3. Make it visually appealing

When your facts and figures have been brushed up, it’s time to throw a nice coat over it. Add charts and diagrams in your company’s corporate identity so that all data splashes off your screen.

This step is critically important to creating a presentable, easy-to-understand report that can provide meaningful guidance to all of your employees, regardless of their expertise.

4. End-user testing and assessment

Now that your report is almost ready, you can send a sample to managers and agents.

They will test whether your report is readable and hopefully it will remove any inconsistencies, clunky text or confusing graphics.

Also pay attention to the user-friendliness of your report.

5. Send out & adjust

Finally, you can send your report to a wider audience.

This last step will show you the fruit of all your hard work, and hopefully it will lead to improvement in the problem areas you were able to pinpoint.

Remember that contact center reports are living documents, so you need to be ready and able to edit or modify the report as needed.

Congratulations! You’ve made it far. You’ve created, tested, and reviewed a document critical to the long-term success of your call center.

This industry moves fast, and your business relies on comprehensive, professional call center reporting to keep up with the competition. So give yourself a pat on the back and get started on the next report!

The heart of the matter

Comprehensive call center reporting is the key to the success of any modern call and contact center.

They present a plethora of key KPIs in a digestible way so management can quickly understand which high-priority areas need improvement.

They can also aid in the improvement process, as regular reports can help determine whether or not a particular improvement strategy is working properly or needs to be replaced.

It’s a process that takes time, and while it’s worth every minute you spend on it, you can make the process more efficient by using advanced call center reporting software like Steam-connect.

Curious? Then request a free demo .