A call centre or call center is a centralized office used for the purpose of receiving and transmitting

a large volume of requests by telephone. A call centre is operated by a company to administer

incoming product support or information inquiries from consumers. Outgoing calls for telemarketing,

clientele, product services, and debt collection are also made. In addition to a call centre, collective

handling of letters, faxes, live chat, and e-mails at one location is known as a contact centre.

A call centre is often operated through an extensive open workspace for call centre agents, with work

stations that include a computer for each agent, a telephone set/headset connected to a telecom

switch, and one or more supervisor stations. It can be independently operated or networked with

additional centers, often linked to a corporate computer network,

including mainframes, microcomputers and LANs. Increasingly, the voice and data pathways into the
centre are linked through a set of new technologies called computer telephony integration (CTI).

Most major businesses use call centres to interact with their customers. Examples include utility

companies, mail order catalogue retailers, and customer support for computer hardware and software.

Some businesses even service internal functions through call centres. Examples of this include help

desks, retail financial support, and sales support.

A contact centre, also known as customer interaction centre is a central point of any organization

from which all customer contacts are managed. Through contact centres, valuable information about

company are routed to appropriate people, contacts to be tracked and data to be gathered. It is

generally a part of company’s customer relationship management (CRM). Today, customers contact

companies by calling, emailing, chatting online, visiting websites, faxing, and even instant messaging.

There are two distinct areas of design required in such an application. The questions which must be
answered are:

1. How many call centre agents do I need?

2. How many trunks do I need?

As call holding times depend upon average queuing times (which depend upon the number of agents
deployed), the two questions must be addressed in the order shown.

How many agents do I need??

Calculating the number of agents required is a continuous process which will require regular
reassessment as the circumstances of a call center change. Assessments may be made for each
working hour of a day, and should take such factors as marketing campaigns and daily call peaks into
account.

We suggest performing a calculation for each working hour. In order to estimate the number of agents
required in a particular hour, the following information relating to that hour is required as a minimum:

1. Number of calls received

2. Average duration of these calls
3. Average delay that you accept that incoming callers may experience.

Items 1 and 2 describe the incoming traffic levels and must be established from call statistics or from
estimates based on your understand of your business. Item 3 is your performance criterion. Another
performance criterion which can be used defines call handling in terms of the percentage of calls
answered within a target queuing time (e.g. 85% of calls answered within 20 seconds of ringing). This
can be more meaningful and is supported by our Windows 95 / NT product, Westbay Traffic
Calculators, but is not yet supported by our online calculators.

Wrap up time (or wrap time) is the time an agent remains unavailable to answer a call after a call has
been completed. It is usually the time taken to carry out administrative tasks relating to a call such as
entering an order on a terminal. For the purposes of Erlang C, wrap up time should be included in
average call duration.

Having established these three minimum parameters for an hour, an estimate of the number of agents
required can be made using the Erlang C Traffic Model. You can use online calculator to work through
this example now.

• Calls received in the hour 350

• Average call duration 180 seconds (160 seconds duration + 20 seconds wrap up time).
• Average delay to all calls 25 seconds

Pressing the Calc button reveals that 21 agents will be required during the hour in question.
Performing this calculation using our Windows product, Westbay Traffic Calculators is similar, but
please refer to the user guide or help system for detailed instructions.

How many Trunks so I need?

Whereas the number of agents required can (and should) be dynamic, changing from hour to hour,
the number of lines required to connect a call center with a central office exchange is fixed (at least in
traditional circuit switched technology) and must cater for the maximum anticipated traffic levels
which will be encountered. Engineering the number of lines required is known as dimensioning a trunk
group.

The Erlang B traffic model can be used to estimate the number of lines required. This traffic model
requires the following inputs:

• Busy Hour Traffic

• Blocking

Busy Hour Traffic

This figure represents the quantity of traffic expressed in a unit called Erlangs. For the purposes of
these calculations, 1 Erlang can be considered equivalent to 1 hour of calls.

The busiest hour must always be used for busy hour traffic calculations. But, wrap up time is not
included. In working out the number of lines required, the busy hour traffic must be based on the
duration of the calls and the queuing times as these account for trunk occupancy; wrap up time does
not occupy a trunk.

Assuming our earlier call center example represents the busiest hour, the busy hour traffic is
calculated as follows:

BHT = [ Average call duration (s) + Average delay (s) ] * Calls per hour / 3600

The resulting figure shows the total trunk occupancy in hours, including the average delay period
during which calls are being queued in an ACD and occupying trunks.

So, the busy hour traffic figure would be:

BHT = [ 160 + 25 ] * 350 / 3600

BHT = 17.986

It is important to note that the busy hour traffic figure should represent the busiest traffic load a call
centre will ever be offered. The trunk group being designed must be large enough to cater not just for
today's peak, but for every peak. Therefore, extreme caution should be exercised when calculating
BHT.

Blocking
The blocking figure describes the calls which cannot be completed because insufficient lines have been
provided. A figure of 0.01 means that 1% of calls would be blocked; this is a normal figure to use in
traffic engineering. For some applications, 0.03 (3%) blocking is used.

Having established these two parameters, an estimate of the number of lines required can be made
using the Erlang B Traffic Model. You can use our online calculator to work through this example now.

• BHT = 17.986 Erlangs

• Blocking = 0.01

Pressing the Calc button reveals that 28 lines will be required during the hour in question. Performing
this calculation using windows 95 , Westbay Traffic Calculators is similar, but please refer to the user
guide or help system for detailed instructions.

Dynamics

Types of calls are often divided into outbound and inbound. Inbound calls are calls that are made by

the consumer to obtain information, report a malfunction, or ask for help. These calls are substantially

different from outbound calls, where agents place calls to potential customers mostly with intentions

of selling or service to the individual. It is possible to combine inbound and outbound campaigns.

Call centre staff are often organized into a multi-tier support system for a more efficient handling of

calls. The first tier in such a model consists of operators, who direct inquiries to the appropriate
department and provide general directory information. If a caller requires more assistance, the call is

forwarded to the second tier, where most issues can be resolved. In some cases, there may be three

or more tiers of support staff. If a caller requires more assistance, the caller is forwarded to the third

tier of support; typically the third tier of support is formed by product engineers/developers or highly

skilled technical support staff of the product.

Some variations of call centre models are listed below:

 Contact centre – Supports interaction with customers over a variety of media, including but

not necessarily limited to telephony, e-mail and internet chat.

 Inbound call centre - Exclusively or predominantly handles inbound calls (calls initiated by the

customer).

 Outbound call centre - One in which call centre agents make outbound calls to customers or

sales leads.

 Blended call centre - Combining automatic call distribution for incoming calls with predictive

dialling for outbound calls, it makes more efficient use of agent time as each type of agent

(inbound or outbound) can handle the overflow of the other.

Call Center Terms: Glossary

There are four different types of information on the telephone activity of your call center: Agent data,
Queue data, CDN data and Trunk data. A data item (such as Accepted Calls) that appears in a Queue
report can be defined differently in a CDN report or in a Trunk report.

Abandoned Calls (CDNs)

The number of calls accepted into the CDN, but abandoned before being answered through the
controlled operation or routed according to the CDN's script.

Abandoned Calls (Queues)

An incoming ACD call is counted as abandoned when the caller hangs up before the call is answered
by an agent or before the call is routed off-site. The sum includes calls that abandon while waiting for
an agent to answer the call at their telephone. Calls that abandon while in the Timed Overflow (TOF)
queue are counted against the ACD queue that initiated the overflow.

Abandoned Trunk Calls Before Threshold

A peg count of Calls Abandoned that shows how many calls were abandoned before the threshold time
is reached. The threshold time is set in the telephone system for the ACD queue where a trunk route
terminates. Do not try to relate these numbers to the numbers of Calls Abandoned in the Queue
reports. The number of Call Abandoned in the Queue reports can include Abandoned Calls other than
the Abandoned Trunk Calls (such as Overflowed Abandoned, etc.).

Abandoned Trunk Calls After Threshold

A peg count of Calls Abandoned that shows how many calls were abandoned after the threshold time
is reached. The threshold time is set in the telephone system for the ACD queue where a trunk route
terminates. Do not try to relate these numbers to the numbers of Calls Abandoned in the Queue
reports. The number of Call Abandoned in the Queue reports can include Abandoned Calls other than
the Abandoned Trunk Calls (such as Overflowed Abandoned, etc.).

Accepted Calls (CDNs)

The number of calls that entered the CDN and were routed by the telephone system according to the
Enhanced ACD Routing script. The number of Accepted Calls for the CDN is equal to the number of
Calls Answered plus the number Abandoned plus the number Routed to the CDN plus the number
Disconnected plus the number Busy plus the number Defaulted to this CDN.

Accepted Calls (Queues)

The number of calls placed in this ACD queue, including any Overflow by Number calls from another
ACD queue. Timed Overflow calls from another ACD queue are not included. The number is based on
the following:

• If a call is Night Forwarded, it is counted in the Interflow amount for the source ACD queue in
the Queue report. If the Night Forwarded number is an ACD queue, then numbers of Calls
Accepted, Answered, or Abandoned (among other things) are reflected in the count for the
destination ACD queue. The call is not counted as an Accepted call (or Answered, etc) against
the source ACD queue.
• If a call is not Night Forwarded (whether or not Night RAN is given), the call counts as an
Accepted Call (or Answered, etc) against the source ACD queue. It will not count under
Interflow in this case.
• If the Time Overflow feature is used, the Calls Answered value includes answered Time
Overflow calls from another queue. Calls to this ACD queue that are answered by another
queue (via Time Overflow) are not counted.

ACD
See Automatic Call Distribution

ACD Report Buffer

A component of ACD Performance Reporting that transfers your call center data from the Call
Accounting Buffer to the ACD Parser program for processing into your historical database. The ACD
Report Buffer is a software application that runs on a computer connected to the Call Accounting
Buffer.

ACD state
When an agent is engaged on an ACD call, they are considered to be in the ACD state. Also see Agent
states.

ACD time (Talk time, DCP time, ACD time, Customer talk time)
The duration of an ACD call (including ACD hold time), or the length of a customer's call. Basically,
from the time the agent answers the ACD call to the time when either the customer or the agent
disconnects the call. ACD time is also called Direct Call Processing time, Customer time, ACD Talk
time, Call Processing time, or Talk time.

Active
In the Northern telephone system, 'active' is defined as having the ability to receive ACD calls. Agents
become active when they log into the telephone system.

Agent
A general term for someone who handles telephone calls in a call center. Other common names for the
same job include operator, Telephone Service Representative (TSR), attendant, and representative.

Agent states
The type of telephone activity an agent either performed or is engaged in performing. The time an
agent spends in each state is tracked and is included in the information sent by the Northern
telephone system.

All Trunks Busy (ATB)

The situation that occurs when a call is received by a trunk group and, because of the level of
telephone traffic, the trunk group cannot route the call. If a trunk busy condition exists beyond a
single reporting period (for example, it begins during period 1 and is still busy during period 2), that
condition may be pegged for both periods.

All Trunks Busy Calls

A peg count of the number of times a call received by a trunk group could not be routed by that trunk
group, due to the level of telephone traffic.

All Trunks Busy Time

The total amounts of time calls that were received by a trunk group could not be routed by that trunk
group, due to the level of telephone traffic.

All Trunks Busy Longest

The longest amount of time a call was received by a trunk group and could not be routed by that trunk
group, due to the level of telephone traffic.

Answered Call (CDNs)

This is the number of calls that entered the CDN and were answered with the controlled operation or
according to the scripting of the CDN's routing.

Answered Call (Queues)

A call that was routed to an ACD queue, and was then answered by an agent in that ACD queue. The
number of Answered Calls is based on the following:

• If a call is Night Forwarded, it is counted as an Interflowed call for the Source ACD queue in
the Queue report.
• If the Night Forwarded number is an ACD queue, the Answered Call is reflected in the count
for the destination ACD queue. The call is not counted as Answered against the source ACD
queue.
• If a call is not Night Forwarded (whether or not Night RAN is given), then it counts as an
Answered Call against the source ACD queue. It will not count under Interflow in this case.
• If the Time Overflow feature is used, the Calls Answered value includes calls that Time
Overflowed from another queue to this one (TOF-IN), as well as the number of calls that Time
Overflow to another ACD queue (TOF-OUT) from this one.
• This shows the number of ACD calls answered by agents for this queue, including calls that
overflow into the queue.

Answered Trunk Calls Before Threshold

A peg count of Calls Answered that shows how many calls were answered before the threshold time is
reached. The threshold time is set in the telephone system for the ACD queue where a trunk route
terminates. Do not try to relate these numbers to the numbers of Calls Answered in the Queue
reports. The number of Call Answered in the Queue reports can include Answered Calls other than the
Answered Trunk Calls (such as Overflowed Answered, etc.).

Answered Trunk Calls After Threshold

A peg count of Calls Answered that shows how many calls were answered before the threshold time is
reached. The threshold time is set in the telephone system for the ACD queue where a trunk route
terminates. Do not try to relate these numbers to the numbers of Calls Answered in the Queue
reports. The number of Call Answered in the Queue reports can include Answered Calls other than the
Answered Trunk Calls (such as Overflowed Answered, etc.).
ASA
See Average Speed of Answer

ATB
See All Trunks Busy

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD)

A software feature of the Northern telephone system that routes a call to groups of agents (also called
a 'queue') based on first-in, first-answered criteria. The guiding principle is that the caller who has
been waiting the longest will be first the caller routed to the next available agent. The agent that
receives the call will be either the first available agent or the agent that has been available for the
longest period of time.

Available state
An agent's telephone is considered in the Available state when the telephone is able to receive ACD
calls. A logged on agent enters the Available mode when they log into the telephone system and then
exit the Not Ready state. Some telephone systems automatically place agents into the Available state
at log in. A line that is available to receive ACD calls is also available to receive Non-ACD incoming
calls (internal or external).

Available time
The amounts of time that an agent in the ACD queue spends in the Available state. The Available
telephone state is one where an agent is available to take an incoming ACD call.

Average Busy Time

This is the sum of all Position Manned times, minus the sum of all waiting times, divided by the
number of positions that had any Position Manned time accumulated against them.

Average Direct Call-Processing (DCP) Time

The average amounts of time per Answered ACD call that an agent (or agents) was engaged with an
ACD call. This is the total time (in seconds) that each agent spent handling ACD calls divided by the
total number of calls answered (by either the agent or the ACD queue). Handling time is the time from
initial answer of the call to final release of the call. When the telephone system data includes Hold
time, the average Direct Call Processing time does not include the Hold time. In this situation, the
Average DCP time is the time that the agents are active on the call, excluding holding time of ACD
calls.

Average Hold Time (HDCP time)

The average amounts of time per Answered ACD call that an agent (or agents) placed an ACD call on
hold. Handling time is measured from the time the agent puts the ACD call on Hold to the time the
agent becomes active on the call again or the caller abandons the call. The average Hold time is the
sum of all ACD call hold times divided by the number of ACD calls answered by the agent or ACD
queue. When the telephone system data includes Hold time, the average Direct Call Processing time
does not include the Hold time. In this situation, the Average DCP time is the time that the agents are
active on the call, excluding holding time of ACD calls.

Average Incoming Call Time

The average amounts of time per Non-ACD call that an agent (or agents) was engaged in a call on
their Non-ACD extensions. This is the total duration (in seconds) of all incoming calls on the agent’s
Non-ACD key(s) during the report period, timed from call answer to final call release, divided by the
total number of Non-ACD calls received during that time period.

Average Incoming Call Time (Trunks)

The average amount of incoming trunk traffic time per Trunk call. This is the total incoming trunk
traffic for the trunk route (in CCS) between seizure and disconnect (including non-ACD calls, if any)
divided by the total number of calls that came in on this trunk route (including non-ACD calls) during
the report period. The total number of calls per ACD queue equals the total number of Incoming Calls
for all trunk routes terminating on the ACD queue.

Average Manned Time

The average amounts of time per reporting period agents were logged into the telephone system. This
is the sum of all Position Manned times divided by the number of agent positions that had any manned
time accumulated. An agent position is considered Manned when an agent logs into the telephone
system, and the agent will continue to accumulate Manned time until the agent engages the Make Set
Busy key (which logs them out of the telephone system.

Average Non-ACD In Time

The average amounts of time an agent spends engaged on incoming Non-ACD calls. The Average Non-
ACD Incoming time is the sum of all times from the initial selection of the individual extension key,
including transfer and conference keys, to the final release of the call, divided by the number of
incoming calls. The telephone system only accumulates call time for one Non-ACD call per agent
position at a time. It is not possible to add multiple simultaneous events (engaging on several Non-
ACD calls at once, using the Hold feature) as the total Non-ACD time would exceed real clock time.
This means that if an agent position has more than one DN (or extension) key and the agent uses
both at once, the reported Non-ACD call time will not be accurate. Agent positions should be
configured with only one extension key unless you are willing to forego the accuracy of Non-ACD call
statistics.

Average Non-ACD Out Time

The average amounts of time an agent spends engaged on outgoing Non-ACD calls. The Average Non-
ACD Outgoing time is the sum of all times from the initial selection of the individual extension key,
including transfer and conference keys, to the final release of the call, divided by the number of
outgoing calls. The system only accumulates call time for one Non-ACD call per agent position at a
time. It is not possible to add multiple simultaneous events (engaging on several Non-ACD calls at
once, using the Hold feature) as the total Non-ACD time would exceed real clock time. This means
that if an agent position has more than one DN (or extension) key and the agent uses both at once,
the reported Non-ACD call time will not be accurate. Agent positions should be configured with only
one extension key unless the customer is willing to forego the accuracy of Non-ACD call statistics. If
an agent is involved in a conference call or an outgoing Non-ACD call, or is transferring a call when the
telephone data is generated, the Non-ACD Outgoing time includes the call start time minus the current
time. The Non-ACD Out and Transferred IDN amounts are not incremented until the call is released,
and they are reflected in the next reporting period.

Average PCP Time (Not Ready)

The average amount of time per ACD call that an agent (or agents) was in the Post Call Processing (or
Not Ready) state. The Average PCP time is measured from the time the agent goes into Not Ready
(the NRD key activated) until the occurrence of any event that removes the agent from the Not Ready
state. The average PCP time is the total time accumulated against all Not Ready states divided by the
total number of ACD calls answered by an agent or ACD queue.

Average Speed of Answer (ASA)

The Average Speed of Answer for calls received by an ACD queue. The timing for answering the call
begins when the call is queued for the ACD queue and ends when an agent (either in the primary or
overflow ACD queue) answers the call. If an agent in an overflow group answers the call, Average
Speed of Answer is counted in the overflow group. This is the sum includes Enhanced Overflow Calls
from other queues, but not including Timed Overflow In Calls from another queue nor Network ACD
calls that are answered by a remote target agent.

Average Wait Time before Abandon

The average amounts of time per Abandoned call the customer waited to be answered before
abandoning the call. This is the total of all waiting times for Abandoned calls divided by the number of
calls abandoned in the ACD queue this reporting period.
Average Waiting Time
This is the average amount of time that an agent was available to receive an ACD call. It is the total
amount of waiting time divided by the number of incoming ACD calls answered.

Busy (CDN)
The number of calls given a busy tone when routed to this CDN, due to a setting in the telephone
system (Supervisor Control of Queue Size). Calls treated with the busy tone are noted with a B next to
the entry in the telephone system data.

Busy (Queue)
An agent is considered Busy when he/she is logged into the telephone system and is engaged on an
ACD call, engaged on a Non-ACD call, or in the Not Ready state. An agent is not considered Busy
when he/she is in the Waiting state (waiting for an ACD call to be routed to the agent's telephone).

Busy Time
The cumulative amounts of time that an agent in the ACD queue spends in the ACD state, the Not
Ready state, or the Non-ACD state. Basically, the total amount of agent position manned time minus
the total amount of agent position waiting time.

Call Accounting Buffer

A hardware data collection device that receives data broadcast by the telephone system and stores
that data until the ACD Report Buffer program asks for it. The device is slightly larger than the
standard external modem, and connects to the telephone system via standard data cabling.

CCR
see Customer Control Routing

CCS
see Centi-Call Seconds

CDNs
see Control Directory Numbers

Centi-Call Seconds
A unit used for the measurement of telephone traffic analysis, equivalent to one hundred seconds of
telephone usage.

Connection
A two-way communication path between terminations that allows the transmission of speech (or other
information) and supervisory signals.

Control Directory Numbers

A Control DN (CDN) is a special Directory Number not associated with any physical telephone or
equipment. The CDN specifies a destination ACD queue to which incoming calls are directed. Multiple
CDNs can place calls into the same ACD queue. The parameters of the CDN, not those of the ACD
queue, determine call treatment.

Customer Control Routing (CCR)

Customer Controlled Routing enables the customer to customize the treatment and the routing of
incoming calls

DCP
see ACD Time
Default DN (CDN)
The number of ACD calls routed to the Default DN for this CDN. This is usually an ACD queue.

Directory Number
A numbered code (usually a four or five digit number) used to route calls to a collection of telephones,
otherwise know as an ACD queue.

Directory Number Key (DN Key, Extension, Non-ACD line)

A Directory Number Key is a button on a person's telephone that allows them to take calls routed
directly to their telephone or to make calls to other telephone extensions. When a person calls your
telephone directly, they are dialing the number for one of the DN keys on your telephone. When an
agent presses a DN key to make or receive a call, any other call in progress is automatically released
(unless on hold). When the call on the DN key is released, the agent position is automatically returned
to whatever state it was in before the DN key was pressed. Any call being presented to the ACD In-
Calls key, but not yet answered by the agent when the DN key is pressed, is moved back to the head
of its priority grouping in the incoming call queue for the ACD queue.

Disconnect
The total number of controlled calls that were given forced disconnect by the system. If you want to
set a time limit to long conversations, you can implement a Timed Forced Disconnect timer on each
route. Any conversation that reaches that timer threshold will be disconnected instantly.

Division
A user-defined collection of ACD queues. Divisions are usually organized along the lines of
functionality or type of telephone activity (i.e. the Sales division and the Support Division).

DN
see Directory Number

EAR
see Enhanced ACD Routing

Enhanced ACD Routing

An optional ACD feature that allows supervisors to regulate ACD traffic and to give different RAN and
music treatments to calls queued at the same ACD queue.

HDCP
see Hold Direct Call Processing Time

Hold Direct Call Processing Time (HDCP)

The time (in seconds) that each agent spent with an ACD call placed on Hold. Hold time is measured
from the time the agent puts the ACD call on Hold to the time the agent becomes active on the call
again or the caller abandons the call. When Hold time appears, the DCP time does not include the
HDCP time; the DCP time is the time that the agents are active on the call, excluding holding time of
ACD calls. HDCP only appears in the data from the telephone system is the data output is set for
Totals (rather than the usual Averages).

High Priority Trunks (HPR)

The number of trunks designated as High Priority. Calls being routed to an ACD queue via a High
Priority Trunk are presented before another queue's Timed Overflow queue (TOFQ) calls.

HPR Trunks
see High Priority Trunks
IDs
see Log In IDs or Position IDs

Incoming Calls (Agent or Queue)

A phone call received by an agent in the ACD queue on their telephone extensions.

Incoming Calls (Trunk)

This is the total number of calls that came in on this trunk route (including non-ACD calls) during the
report period. The total number of calls per ACD queue equals the total number of Incoming Calls for
all trunk routes terminating on the ACD queue. The number of Incoming Calls equals the numbers of
(Calls Abandoned Before Threshold) plus (Calls Abandoned After Threshold) plus (Calls Answered
Before Threshold) plus (Calls Answered After Threshold). Do not try to relate this number to those of
the ACD reports (Answered Calls, Accepted Calls, and Abandoned Calls). This number applies to auto-
terminating trunks and reflects how the trunk was first handled (answered or abandoned).

Incoming Non-ACD Calls

This is the number of incoming calls that arrived on an agent’s DN key(s) (or telephone extensions)
during the report period.

Interactive Voice Response (IVR)

An option of the Northern telephone system that gives you the ability to route calls according to the
caller's response to your recording. Most IVRs take the form of a recording that states (for example)
'If you want Sales, press one. If you want Support, press two'.

Interflows
The number of calls removed from this queue and directed to another (internal or external) queue by
the interflow mechanism. This number does not include Time Overflow calls. The Interflow (ENI) key
allows the supervisor, during excess traffic periods, to redirect incoming ACD calls to another pre-
designated ACD queue. If a call is Night Forwarded, it is counted as an Interflow for the source ACD
queue in the Queue report.

IVR
See Interactive Voice Response

LAN
see Local Area Network

Local Area Network (LAN)

A group of computers connected via a networking protocol (such as Ethernet, Novell, etc.), that can
communicate and share resources with each other.

Log In IDs
When an agent wants to receive ACD calls at their telephone, they first must log into the telephone
system. Depending on how the telephone system is programmed, there are two different methods an
agent can use to log in. The first method uses a Log In ID. When the agent wants to take ACD calls,
they enter a (usually four-digit) number. The Northern telephone system then tracks their telephone
activity according to that log in number. The other method uses a Position ID. When the agent wants
to take ACD calls, they hit their ACD button twice. The Northern telephone system then tracks their
telephone activity according to the position ID of the telephone that they used to log in. The major
difference between the two different methods is that Log In IDs track the telephone activity of a
number (which may appear at different telephone locations) and Position IDs track the telephone
activity of a particular telephone (regardless of whose using it). If your agents always sit at the same
telephones, then the Position ID method will track the telephone activity of the agents (because the
activity of the telephone is always the same as the activity of the agent). If your agents sometime sit
at different telephones, then, in order to track the telephone activity of the agents correctly, the
Northern telephone system needs to be configured to use Log In IDs.
Longest Wait before Answer
The longest time a call had to wait before being answered by an agent in the ACD queue. This
excludes Time Overflow calls answered by a target agent, but includes Recall to Source calls answered
by a source agent.

Make Set Busy (MSB)

Engaging the Make Set Busy key on the agent's telephone logs the agent out of the telephone system.
Telephone sets that are logged out of the telephone system cannot receive ACD calls.

Manned
An agent is considered Manned if they are logged into the telephone system and able to take ACD or
Non-ACD calls. When Manned, agents can be in the Available, Not Ready, ACD, or Non-ACD states.

Manned time
The period of time an agent was logged into the ACD queue. Manned time includes time spent in the
Available, ACD, Not Ready, or Non-ACD states. Manned time is accumulated when an agent logs into
the telephone system and stops when the agent engages the Make Set Busy key (which logs the agent
out of the telephone system).

MSB
see Make Set Busy

Non-ACD Calls
A peg count of the number of times that agents initiated or received a call on their individual
extension telephone keys. Transfer and conference keys are also included in this category. The peg
count is increase each time the agent engages an extension (or DN) key, regardless of whether or not
they dial a number or whether a telephone connection takes place.

Non-ACD state
A Non-ACD call is a call that is either placed or received on one of an agent's extensions. Non-ACD
calls include Incoming, Outgoing and Internal calls that were placed from, or received at, an agent's
extension.

Not Ready (PCP)

A state an agent can engage to finish paperwork associated with a recently finished ACD call. Not
Ready is also called the Post Call Processing state. Agents enter the Not Ready state by engaging the
Not Ready Key on their telephone sets. Agents should only engage the Not Ready key when
performing work directly related to completing ACD calls. The Not Ready state should not be used for
other activities not related to ACD calls (i.e., bathroom breaks, lunch, etc.).

Outgoing Non-ACD Calls

The number of outgoing calls from an agent position using extension (DN), conference, or transfer
keys.

Outgoing Calls (Trunk)

The total number of calls outgoing on this route. These are non-ACD calls, but could include outgoing
calls made from the DN keys of the ACD agent positions.

Overflow
The number of calls redirected to another queue with the Automatic Overflow feature, excluding Timed
Overflowed calls.

PBX
see Private Branch Exchange
PCP
see Not Ready

Peg Count
A simple count of the number of times an event has occurred, like moving a peg on a cribbage board
or making notches on a piece of wood.

Position IDs
When an agent wants to receive ACD calls at their telephone, they first must log into the telephone
system. Depending on how the telephone system is programmed, there are two different methods an
agent can use to log in. The first method uses a Log In ID. When the agent wants to take ACD calls,
they enter a (usually four-digit) number. The Northern telephone system then tracks their telephone
activity according to that log in number. The other method uses a Position ID. When the agent wants
to take ACD calls, they hit their ACD button twice. The Northern telephone system then tracks their
telephone activity according to the position ID of the telephone that they used to log in. The major
difference between the two different methods is that log in IDs track the telephone activity of a
number (which may appear at different telephone locations) and position IDs track the telephone
activity of a particular telephone (regardless of whose using it). If your agents always sit at the same
telephones, then the position ID method will track the telephone activity of the agents (because the
activity of the telephone is always the same as the activity of the agent). If your agents sometime sit
at different telephones, then, in order to track the telephone activity of the agents correctly, the
Northern telephone system needs to be configured to use log in IDs.

Post Call Processing (PCP)

see Not Ready

Private Branch Exchange (PBX)

A switching system providing telephone communications between internal stations and external
telephone networks. The term generally refers to manually operated switching equipment as opposed
to computer operated switching.

Queue
A queue is a number of calls that are waiting to be answered by agents in an ACD queue. The calls are
usually assigned to available agents in a first-arrived, first-answered basis. The queue is the "line up"
where incoming calls wait until they are answered. The queue sometimes refers to the group of agents
available to answer incoming calls to an ACD queue.

RAN
see Recorded Announcement

Raw Data
The unprocessed data output from the telephone system. This data is passed to the Call Accounting
Buffer box on an hourly, half-hourly or hourly on the half-hour basis. The periodic raw data reports are
a summation of the telephone activity of your call center, and are processed into your historical
database by the ACD Parser application.

Recalled to Source
If a call Time Overflows while in the target ACD queue (because it previously Overflowed or
Interflowed by number from a source queue), it will then be recalled back to the source ACD queue.
The call is then linked to the source ACD queue’s Timed Overflow queue, and the Recall To Source
number is increased.

Recorded Announcement (RAN)

An option of the Northern telephone system, which plays a recorded announcement for callers waiting
for an available agent. An example would be when a caller is waiting and hears 'Your call is important
to us. Please remain on the line, and your call will be answered by the next available agent'. A call can
only get one First RAN treatment and one peg against the 1ST RAN amount. Each time that a call
receives second RAN treatment, it is pegged against 2ND RAN amount. The 1ST RAN and 2ND RAN
peg counts do not necessarily equal the Accepted Calls peg counts for an ACD queue. It is possible for
a caller to hear RAN both before and after a transfer. In this case, the Accepted Calls count would tally
only one call while there are two RAN peg count increases.

Routing
The way a call is passed through the Northern telephone system. The telephone system handles the
way a call is sent, and the route the call takes through the telephone system. Different version of the
Northern telephone system can route a call in different ways, according to the available routing
features.

Routed by IVR
The Route By IVR field is incremented if the call is queued to receive IVR treatment and the IVR
routing initiates a call modification to another field. This is the number of IVR controlled calls given a
Route To command (and no additional processing).

Routed by CCR
The number of calls routed by CCR and given a Route To command by the CCR script (and no
additional processing).

Supervisor
A user-defined group of agents, usually collected under a designated supervisor.

Team
A user-defined group of agents, usually collected under a group specific label (such as French,
Spanish, East, West, etc.).

Telephone Service Factor (TSF)

The TSF measures how quickly incoming calls are answered. The customer specifies the time (in
seconds) in the programming of the telephone system. The percentage of incoming calls answered or
abandoned before that time (in seconds) is the TSF. A value of 100 means all calls were answered or
abandoned within the customer-defined time threshold. Calls Time Overflowed and calls answered by
target agents (TOF In Calls) are included in these calculations because TOF In Calls accumulate a
Before Time Threshold value. However, TOF In Calls do not last in the target queue long enough to
accumulate an After Time Threshold value. Calls Time Overflowed from a source ACD queue (TOF-Out)
are not counted in this field because the TSF factor does not apply to calls answered by the source
agent.

Timed Overflowed In
ACD calls that hit the call's primary ACD target and then are either assigned to an ACD agent as an
Overflow ACD target or are assigned to an ACD agent in an ACD queue where the group is defined as
an Overflow ACD target. The source and target queues must have the Timed Overflow option turned
on for accurate reports. For example, the source ACD queue has the option turned off and the target
ACD queue has the option turned on. When an overflowed call is answered by the target queue, that
call is pegged as answered for the target queue but not for the source queue, resulting in an
inaccurate report.

Timed Overflowed Out

ACD calls that hit the call's primary ACD target and then are either assigned to an ACD agent as an
Overflow ACD target or are assigned to an ACD agent in an ACD queue where the group is defined as
an Overflow ACD target. A call is also counted as Overflowed Out of the ACD queue when it is
assigned (by the Northern telephone system) to an extension or when the call is routed off-site. Calls
answered by voice mail are counted as Overflowed Out. The source and target queue must have the
Timed Overflow option turned on for accurate reports. For example, the source ACD queue has the
option turned off and the target ACD queue has the option turned on. When an overflowed call is
answered by the target queue, that call is pegged as answered for the target queue but not for the
source queue, resulting in an inaccurate report.

TOF
see Timed Overflow In or Timed Overflow Out

Transferred Internal DN Calls (IDN)

The Transferred IDN number is the sum of all the calls the agent Transferred or Conferenced while on
an active Non-ACD call. The number increases when the Transfer or Conference is complete.

Transferred ACD Calls

The Transferred ACD number is the sum of all the calls the agent Transferred or Conferenced while on
an active ACD call. The number increases when the Transfer or Conference is complete.

Trunk
Trunks are the physical links that enable telephone communication. A trunk route carries calls from
outside to answering positions in your ACD queue.

TSF
see Telephone Service Factor

Work Trunks
This is the number of trunks (including non-ACD trunks) that are currently enabled.

The two main parts to a Call Centre are its ACD (Automatic Call Distribution) and IVR (Intelligent
Voice Recognition — although in this instant that can be a bit of a misnomer since it tends to be DTMF
tones from your keypad rather than your voice that is recognised in many of the smaller Call Centres)
functions. There will also be some form of CTI, though again this is more limited than in the larger
Contact Centres.
ACD
ACD handles how calls are routed to Call Centre agents — typically you’d have workflow scripts that
tell the system which group of people to direct the call to, based on certain information. This could
include Caller ID (you might have different people handling internal and external calls, for instance),
called number (so you can publish different numbers for different product ranges you’re selling,
maybe), time of day and information that has been entered via the telephone keypad.
Skills-based routing isn’t something you used to get with smaller systems, but it’s now becoming more
common. This can be used in conjunction with the other routing information to get the call to the best
person first time, to save having to transfer a caller round various agents. If you have international
sites, you could use the CLI to direct calls to someone who speaks the same language as the caller,
for instance.

You should also be able to choose, within a group of agents, who gets the next calls, whether it’s a
circular hunt group arrangement, or new calls go to the person who’s been idle longest. And a useful
option, if you can get it, is the ability to allow for a call wrap-up time, so that the agent has a few
moments to finish writing up any notes once a call’s completed before being connected to a new
caller.

IVR
The IVR part allows you to collect information from callers to use to direct calls, so that a caller can
select whether they’re an existing customer querying the status of an order, or a new customer
wishing to place one. You can also use this to provide recorded announcements. These can be the
usual static ‘please hold’ type messages, or, better, a dynamic message that advises of your place in a
queue, for instance, or the estimated waiting time, to improve customer satisfaction.
Agent features
When a call is passed to an agent, they should be presented with any information that has been
collected along the way, such as caller ID, anything entered by the keypad, how long the call has been
waiting, and whether this call has already been dealt with by anyone else —and any notes that might
have been made already. Links to back end databases will be variable in their levels of integration, but
some form of CTI will be essential.
Typical features you should be looking for are the ability for agents to communicate via instant
messaging while on a call, if they need assistance (this is particularly useful for the training of new
staff), being able to record calls, easily log into and out of the system, and also temporarily make
themselves unavailable for new calls if required without having to actually log out.

Usually, the agent software will be PC-based, but you may be able to use phone handsets, albeit with
a probable reduced functionality. It’s important that the software is usable — you should involve a
representative from what will be your Call Centre to tell you if the fancy software that seems to do
everything you think they need will actually work in their environment without them having to change
too many processes.

Supervisor features should include the ability to monitor calls silently or barge in. Being able to
broadcast messages to a group of agents can also be important. The main focus for the supervisors,
though, will be the statistics they can get — reporting on wait times, call durations and agent activity
is the one big ‘must have’ for a Call Centre and the easiest way for you to manage it is to allow
supervisors to customise their own reports, so they don’t have to ask you to do it.

Admin
If this isn’t to be particularly large Call Centre, you don’t want to be spending a lot of time getting it
up and running and looking after it. Scripts for routing calls should be easy to set up, with lots of
samples provided.
Of course you also have to consider the size of system you need, both in terms of concurrent agents
and call volumes, and whether you need a multi-site system. It can be much more cost-effective to
have agents at remote sites — some banks do this, using branch staff as Call Centre agents during
non-busy times at the branches — or even working from home. Resilience will be important, and
where calls will fail to in effect of a major problem — or even just an unusually heavy call volume.

Whether you’re dealing with outside customers, or just need to make your internal systems more
efficient, it’s well worth having a look at this lower end of the Contact Centre market, to see how a
Call Centre can help your organisation.
Different call center types:
Some variations of call centre models are listed below:

Contact centre – Supports interaction with customers over a variety of media, including
but not necessarily limited to telephony, e-mail and internet chat.

Inbound call centre - Exclusively or predominately handles inbound calls (calls initiated
by the customer).

Outbound call centre - One in which call centre agents make outbound calls to customers
or sales leads.
Blended call centre - Combining automatic call distribution for incoming calls with
predictive dialing for outbound calls, it makes more efficient use of agent time as each
type of agent (inbound or outbound) can handle the overflow of the other

Operation Process:

The following picture gives an overview how the call center process will be done.

Steps for starting the business:

_ Trace License (legally running the business)
_ License from telecom department
_ Trained human resources with good English, communication skills and expert skill.
_ Infrastructure:
• Server (CRM , ACD , Database)
• PC with headphones and telephone
_ Other human resources (ex. Management)
_ Access telephone no (both local and international)

Call center technologies:

Call centre technology is subject to improvements and innovations. Some of these technologies

include speech recognition and speech synthesis software to allow computers to handle first

level of customer support, text mining and natural language processing to allow better

customer handling, agent training by automatic mining of best practices from past interactions,

and many other technologies to improve agent productivity and customer satisfaction.[2]

Automatic lead selection or lead steering is also intended to improve efficiencies[3], both for

inbound and outbound campaigns, whereby inbound calls are intended to quickly land with the

appropriate agent to handle the task, whilst minimizing wait times and long lists of irrelevant

options for people calling in, as well as for outbound calls, where lead selection allows

management to designate what type of leads go to which agent based on factors including skill,

socio-economic factors and past performance and percentage likelihood of closing a sale per

lead. The concept of the Universal Queue standardizes the processing of communications

across multiple technologies such as fax, phone, and email.

In advance automatics, we use

Operation process:

Requirements for setup:

– Call center ADC/switch

– CTI software

– Call center agent application (Telephone, web and fax enabled) and work

station.

– Headsets

– Fax, e-mail and telephone integration

– Hardware including services, PABX

– Voice recording

Communication mechanism:

The CTI server and its applications:

Combining the Millennium CTI Server with computer telephony software applications can

provide

Call Control: The computer application takes control of the telephone to send commands to

setup, answer, hold, and transfer

calls automatically.

Screen Pop: Calling party information is presented on the computer screen automatically when

the call rings the users

desktop telephone.

Contact Management: Integrating contact databases with your system enables a single point of

management for all contacts and correspondence.

Preview Dialing: Application allows the computer user to make call to the clients / Customers.

IVR/CTR and its applications:

IVR - short for Interactive Voice Response - is a technology that automates interactions with

telephone callers. Enterprises are increasingly turning to IVR to reduce the cost of common

sales, service, collections, inquiry and support calls to and from their company.

Historically, IVR solutions have used pre-recorded voice prompts and menus to present

information and options to callers, and touch-tone telephone keypad entry to gather

responses. Modern IVR solutions also enable input and responses to be gathered via spoken

words with voice recognition.

IVR solutions enable users to retrieve information including bank balances, flight schedules,

product details, order status, movie show times, and more from any telephone. Additionally,

IVR solutions are increasingly used to place outbound calls to deliver or gather information for

appointments, past due bills, and other time critical events and activities.

Automatic Call Distributors:

"ACD (Automatic Call Distribution) is a computer telephony integration technology that

automatically distributes incoming calls to unique groups of phone answering agents.

ACD phone systems are usually found in organizations that process large volumes of phone

calls. In most of these types of organizations (such as customer support or sales), the caller has

no specific need to talk to a certain person. The caller simply wishes to speak with a person

capable of providing the necessary support and information.

The ACD phone system's primary responsibility is to route these calls in the most effective

manner. The ACD phone system consists of switching hardware, phone lines and routing

software. ACD routing strategy is a set of instructions that tells the ACD how calls are handled

within this system."

Market size and target market:

Call center business is one of the fascinating businesses for now. As it takes comparatively lower
investment and less risk many people have already start up their business. Basically in our starting
year
we focus on some particular area for doing our business.
According to our analysis we have figure out some of the area where we can target to establish our
business;
Prospective clients:
– Banks and financial institutes
– Billing Services(ISP, Mobile , PSTN , Insurance , Titas gas , WASA ,DESA)
– Contracting and insurance agencies (Tender)
– Education sector (Local and Foreign Education)
– Telecommunications
– Passenger transport and travel agencies
– Private hospitals

Prospective Service areas:

o Financial transactions: banks, credit unions, investment firms.

o Customer/Clients registration: Universities, government departments.

o Reservations: Airline, hotels, trains, entertainments, package shipping and ticketing,

courier companies, manufacturers and distributors.

o Catalogue sales: personal products, educational resources.

o Ticket sales: Theatre companies, Sports organizations, profit lotteries, events.

o Order processing: Exists within most business spanning all industries

o Information services: Government services, Professional health, insurance and

counseling advices, customer services.

o Technical support: Software and hardware companies, Information technology

industries, Semi government and private organizations.

Call center risks:

The call center business has risk. The risk is associate both with the technical and business risk.
Some risk is the call center business is identified here:
• Uninterruptable internet service
• Uninterruptable electricity
• Communication barrier
• Non-existent Customer Service Culture
• Bad Infrastructure
• Lack of experience
Risk minimization plan:
As there is some risk in the call center business, here we have planned to take some initiative to
minimize
those risks. From the identified risks we categorized them and try to minimize those with the following
plans.
In call center business mitigation plan:
• Uninterruptable electricity: Use a X KV electric power generator for alternative
electricity supply.
• Communication barrier: Trained up the person in the advanced English.
• Lack of experience: Arrange a training before joining in the organization. Company have
a training agreement with Micromacsoft who organize the trainings.
• Uninterruptable internet service: Use connection from the alternative service
providers.
• Customer Service Culture: Arrange a monthly gathering where employees can share
their thinking and improve the service providing culture.

Improve customer’s security:

Customers security is the key factor for the improve of the call centre business. In order to
improve the customer’s satisfaction we have plan to:
• Creating a paperless environment, ensuring that all work processes are done on the
computer.
• Prohibiting the use of cell phones, digital recording devices and cameras in work station.
• Preventing internet access and disabling USB ports for employees from work station.

Training Plan:
Basically the entire executive who need to directly in contact with the clients and customers need the
training. Before starting up the call center business we have plan to trained up our selected agents
with the advanced technologies to meet the clients demand. Call Center Agent Training Program
consists of the following manuals:

• Call Center Basics

• The Call Center Environment
• The Call Center Agent
• Customer Service Basics
• Great Customer Service Over The Phone'
• Conflict Resolution
• Service Recovery Skills

1 Servers 02

DC Server and ADC Server

2 Desktop PC ‘s

3 Router with VPN

4 Switch 02

5 LAN setup

6 Dialers

7 UPS and Generator

8 Furniture

9 Licence from govt

10 Head Phones

11 Call recording softwares

12 Training of candidates

13 Voip Minutes

14 Leased line internet connection

15 Ac’s