Glossary

The contact center glossary defines the most common vocabulary, measurements, metrics, and phrases related to call center software and the field of customer experience.
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Abandoned call – occurs when a caller hangs up before an agent answers the call or in the middle of conversation with an agent. Also see call abandonment rate.

Adherence – measures utilization and accuracy of agents in accordance with their individual work schedule. Adherence is not one size fits all and can be defined per company’s request.

Agent – an individual in a direct communication with clients through various inbound and outbound channels

Agent utilization – metric used in contact centers. How to calculate it: calls answered within the first minute/total number of calls.

Analytical reporting – business reports which include data analysis that help companies and key stakeholders to identify possible business opportunities or problems.

Application Programming Interface (API) – code or a set of rules that enables a connection, data transmission and communication between two computers or applications. 

Artificial Intelligence (AI) – computer simulation of human intelligence that has the ability to learn from experience.

Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) – technology that enables a person to communicate with a computer using only their voice.

Automatic Contact Distributor (ACD) – telephony system that automatically distributes calls to available agents, IVR or to specific groups based on predefined rules.

Auto callback – a feature that allows the caller to choose the most convenient time to get a call back, so they don’t need to wait in line. It also works for missed calls if the caller tried to reach the company outside business hours.

Auto dialer – feature when software dials telephone numbers for agents.

Auto Number Identification (ANI) – a feature in telephony systems that determines telephone origination number and connects the caller with a phone number.

Average Handle Time (AHT) – this is a metric used in contact centers for talk, hold, and follow-up time divided by the total number of calls. It measures the average length of a customer’s call.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) – cloud computing platform provided by Amazon.

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