Contact-centre terms, in plain words.

A

After-call work (ACW)Also: Wrap-up time, Post-call work

The work an agent does after a call ends and before taking the next one: notes, dispositions, CRM fields and follow-ups. It is part of average handle time. See how to reduce after-call work.

Agent assistAlso: Real-time agent assist, Live agent guidance, Agent copilot

Software that helps an agent during a live call by listening and showing prompts, answers and next steps at the right moment. Many tools also draft the wrap-up. See what agent assist is.

AI agentAlso: Voicebot, Virtual agent

Software that holds the conversation with the customer itself, by voice or chat, with no human agent on the call. Compare agent assist, which supports a human agent.

Auto-failAlso: Critical error, Fatal error

A QA item that fails the whole call if missed, whatever the other scores. Usually kept for compliance items such as a required disclosure or identity verification.

Auto-QAAlso: Automated QA, Automated quality assurance, Automated call scoring

Scoring calls against a QA form with speech recognition and AI, so every eligible call can be scored instead of a small sample. See how to QA every call.

Automatic speech recognition (ASR)Also: Speech to text, Transcription

Turning spoken audio into text. It can run in a vendor's cloud, on a server in your own network, or on the agent's own PC, which decides where call audio travels.

Average handle time (AHT)

The average time an agent spends on a call from start to finish: talk time, plus hold time, plus after-call work.

B

BPOAlso: Business process outsourcing, Outsourced contact centre

Business process outsourcing. In contact centres, a company that handles calls and other customer contact on behalf of its clients, usually several at once, each with its own scripts, systems and QA form.

C

CalibrationAlso: QA calibration, Calibration session

A session in which QA reviewers score the same calls independently, then compare results item by item and agree how each item should be scored. See QA calibration across clients.

CCaaSAlso: Contact centre as a service, Contact-centre platform

A cloud-hosted contact-centre platform that provides call routing, queues, recording and reporting.

Customer satisfaction (CSAT)

A score from a short survey after the contact, usually reported as the share of customers who said they were satisfied.

D

DispositionAlso: Wrap-up code, Call outcome code

A code the agent picks at the end of a call to record its outcome, such as promise to pay, claim opened or callback requested.

DTMF maskingAlso: DTMF suppression, Keypad payment masking

A way of taking card payments by phone in which the customer types the card number on their keypad and the tones are hidden from the agent and the recording. See card data and call recordings.

F

FDCPAAlso: Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

The US federal law that governs how third-party debt collectors may communicate with consumers. Regulation F implements it. See the debt collection call compliance checklist.

First contact resolution (FCR)

The share of customer issues resolved on the first contact, with no need to call back.

First notice of loss (FNOL)

The first report to an insurer that a loss has happened, such as an accident, a theft or property damage. It starts the claim. See the FNOL call checklist.

FTE contractAlso: Per-agent contract, Full-time equivalent pricing

An outsourcing contract priced per full-time agent rather than per minute or per call. Shorter calls free capacity but do not raise revenue on their own.

H

HIPAAAlso: Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act

The US law whose Privacy Rule governs how covered entities and their business associates use and share protected health information. See HIPAA caller verification.

I

Interactive voice response (IVR)

The automated phone menu callers use with their keypad or voice. A secure IVR is often used to take card payments away from the agent.

M

MaskingAlso: Redaction, PII redaction

Replacing sensitive details, such as card numbers, bank details or ID numbers, in a transcript or recording so they cannot be read or heard.

Mini-Miranda

Industry shorthand for the disclosure Regulation F requires of debt collectors (12 CFR 1006.18(e)): in the initial communication, that the collector is attempting to collect a debt and that any information obtained will be used for that purpose; in later communications, that the communication is from a debt collector. See the debt collection call compliance checklist.

Minimum necessary

The HIPAA standard (45 CFR 164.502(b)) that uses and disclosures of protected health information be limited to the minimum needed for the purpose. Disclosures to the patient are an exception. See HIPAA caller verification.

O

Occupancy

The share of logged-in time agents spend handling contacts, including after-call work, rather than waiting for the next one.

P

Pause and resume

Stopping a call recording while card details are given and restarting it afterwards, either by hand or automatically. Manual pausing depends on the agent remembering every time.

PCI DSSAlso: Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard

The security standard for any organisation that stores, processes or transmits payment card data, including card details spoken on calls and captured in recordings.

Personally identifiable information (PII)

Details that identify a person, such as name, address, phone number, Social Security number or account number.

Promise to pay

In collections, a customer's commitment to pay a set amount by a set date, recorded at the end of the call.

Protected health information (PHI)

Health information that identifies a person and is held or sent by a HIPAA covered entity or business associate, including billing and payment information.

Q

QA formAlso: QA scorecard, Quality monitoring form, Evaluation form

The list of items a call is scored against, with weights and any auto-fail items. Outsourced centres often score against a different form for each client.

R

Ramp timeAlso: Time to proficiency, Speed to competency

How long a new agent takes to reach the expected level of quality and productivity.

Regulation FAlso: Reg F, 12 CFR part 1006

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule that implements the FDCPA. It covers call frequency, inconvenient times, communications with third parties and required disclosures. See the debt collection call compliance checklist.

Right-party contact (RPC)

In collections, reaching the person who actually owes the debt, and confirming their identity, before the debt is discussed.

S

Sensitive authentication dataAlso: SAD, CVV, Card verification code

In PCI DSS, data such as the card verification code, full track data and PINs. It must not be kept after a payment is authorised, even encrypted, and that includes call recordings. See card data and call recordings.

Service level

The share of calls answered within a target time, such as 80% within 20 seconds.

Shrinkage

The share of paid agent time not available for handling contacts, because of breaks, training, meetings, absence and similar.

Softphone

Software on the agent's computer that makes and receives calls through a headset, in place of a desk phone.

Speaker separationAlso: Diarization, Speaker diarisation

Telling apart who is speaking in a call recording. It can be done by analysing voices, or by recording the agent and the customer on separate audio channels.

Speech analyticsAlso: Conversation intelligence, Interaction analytics

Software that transcribes and analyses recorded calls after they happen, to find trends, topics and quality issues. Compare agent assist, which works during the call.

T

TCPAAlso: Telephone Consumer Protection Act

The US law that restricts calls and texts made with autodialers or prerecorded or artificial voices, and sets consent rules for them.

V

Vulnerable customer

A customer whose circumstances, such as illness, bereavement or financial difficulty, put them at greater risk of harm, so they need extra care. UK financial regulators set specific expectations for how firms treat them.

W

Whisper coaching

A supervisor speaking to an agent during a live call without the customer hearing.