How to Manage a Call Centre: Key Metrics, People, and Tools

Micheli Silva at Aspect covers the fundamentals of call centre management, from tracking the most important KPIs to implementing solutions that help leaders manage operations effectively at any scale.

When managing a call centre, no day is ever predictable. One moment everything’s running smoothly, and the next you’re dealing with unexpected absences or a sudden surge in customer interactions.

For workforce leaders, hitting service levels is only half the job. The other half is managing the people who make those numbers possible.

What is Call Centre Management?

Call centre management is the process of overseeing the day-to-day operations of a call centre while solving problems that emerge throughout each day.

It covers how agents are scheduled, how customer interactions are handled, and how performance is measured against business goals.

At its core, management is about keeping operations running smoothly while balancing the needs of customers, employees, and the business.

But sometimes, management may feel like they’re putting out fires instead of strategic planning.

Adherence gaps, absenteeism, and poor forecasting result in missed SLAs, increased operational costs, and agent attrition.

It also leads to manager burnout by making it difficult to address staffing needs with any predictability.

Strong call centre management uses workforce management tools and data-driven strategies to deliver consistent service.

Managers monitor important metrics like first call resolution and schedule adherence, then use those insights to make changes that reduce SLA variance and keep customers satisfied.

Current Challenges and Opportunities in Call Centres

Today’s call centres operate in a complex environment where customer needs, employee expectations, and business goals often pull in different directions.

They struggle with fragmented systems, ineffective integrations, and compounding inefficiencies that make days feel unpredictable.

• High agent turnover: Call centre work can be stressful, with agents handling 40–50 calls daily. Without schedules that fit their lives and clear development paths, many employees leave within their first year. This drives up recruitment costs and creates knowledge gaps.

Metrigy’s research shows turnover rose from 21.8% in 2022 to 28.1% in 2023, continuously increasing year after year.

Contributing factors include the challenge of finding candidates with the right mix of skills, rapid company growth, and limited budgets, but also unclear career paths and lack of engagement practices.

This makes coaching sessions, recognition programs, and dynamic scheduling vital for keeping agents on staff and building a stable workforce.

• Remote and hybrid workforce: Flexibility benefits employees, but it adds complexity to scheduling, monitoring, and engagement.

Managers need workforce management tools with real-time tracking and communication features to keep distributed teams productive and engaged.

• Rising customer expectations: Customers want fast, personalized service across multiple channels and are less tolerant of delays or repeated transfers.

This challenge creates an opportunity to use data-driven forecasting, automation, and quality monitoring tools that align staffing and skills with customer demand.

• Cost pressures: Organizations must balance operational efficiency with service level requirements while managing overtime spikes, SLA penalties, and rising costs.

WFM tools use accurate forecasting to predict demand patterns and multi-channel interactions, enabling workforce managers to schedule the right number of agents at the right time. This reduces overstaffing, minimizes overtime, and prevents service level misses that lead to SLA penalties.

Key Roles in Call Centre Management

A call centre relies on different roles working together. Each has its own tasks and challenges, but they all contribute to smooth operations and overall success.

Contact Centre Managers

Contact centre managers deal with the pressure of hitting targets while managing costs and keeping teams engaged.

They monitor KPIs, including service levels, call handling times, and customer satisfaction, while making strategic decisions about staffing, budgets, technology investments, and process improvements.

They must also communicate with senior leadership about performance trends and resource needs.

Supervisors and Team Leaders

Supervisors and team leaders work directly with agents while handling escalated issues and trying to maintain morale in a high-pressure environment. They review calls, provide coaching, and work to reduce attrition rates.

Their biggest challenge involves keeping agents engaged and productive.

Quality Assurance Specialists

QA specialists monitor and evaluate customer and agent interactions across calls, emails, and chats to maintain service excellence and regulatory compliance.

They identify performance gaps, coach team members on best practices, and recommend operational improvements that elevate the customer experience while building agent skills and maintaining consistent service quality.

Workforce Managers

Workforce managers handle the complex task of scheduling and forecasting while adapting to constant changes and last-minute adjustments.

They analyse call patterns to predict volume fluctuations, align shifts with expected demand, maintain appropriate staffing levels, and minimize labour costs – all while meeting service requirements and avoiding SLA penalties.

Their main challenge is finding the right balance. Understaffing creates long wait times, frustrates customers, and overloads the team. Overstaffing increases operational costs.

Essential Metrics to Track in Call Centre Management

Performance metrics reveal how well a call center operates. They give managers clear insights into efficiency, service quality, and customer outcomes that directly impact business success.

Tracking the right metrics helps you identify what’s working and what needs improvement. Focus on the following:

Average Handle Time (AHT)

AHT tracks how long it takes to complete a customer interaction, from the first “hello” to after-call work. Lower AHT can signal efficiency, but rushing agents often creates quality problems and repeat calls.

Managers can use call recordings and analytics to see where conversations slow down and guide agents on handling interactions more efficiently.

First Call Resolution (FCR)

Customers don’t want to call back for the same problem. FCR measures how often issues are resolved the first time.

Higher FCR points to strong training and clear processes, while lower rates usually mean gaps in agent knowledge, poor tools, or inadequate training. Routing systems and AI-assisted knowledge bases can help agents raise this number.

Schedule Adherence

This metric shows how closely agents stick to their assigned shifts and breaks. When adherence drops, service levels suffer and overtime costs rise.

Real-time adherence monitoring and agent self-service scheduling features make it easier to keep adherence on track while giving agents more control over their schedules.

Customer Satisfaction (CSAT)

CSAT captures how customers feel after an interaction. Tracking it side by side with call data helps managers see if speed and efficiency are actually translating into positive experiences.

Agent Utilization

This measures how much of an agent’s time is spent handling calls or chats versus being idle. Workforce management software helps spread work evenly, keeping agents productive without overwhelming them.

Best practices and strategies for modern contact center management

Effective management means having clear steps that reduce daily chaos and create predictable operations.

Call centre leaders need actionable strategies they can implement immediately, build on over months, and sustain long-term.

Start With Quick Wins

Managers should start by checking analytics dashboards to identify where call volumes are rising and service levels are falling.

Small adjustment – like reassigning agents to busy queues or holding quick coaching huddles—can ease pressure immediately. A simple shout-out to top performers in a team chat can also boost morale and performance instantly.

Build Short-Term Improvements

Over the next month or two, leaders should evaluate their scheduling process. Workforce scheduling software makes it easier to match shifts with demand, reduce unnecessary overtime, and give agents more control over their schedules.

This is also the time to establish regular feedback loops—like pulse surveys or one-on-one check-ins—to gather insights from staff and customers.

Plan For Long-Term Success

Over time, analytics and engagement tools provide the foundation for sustained growth. Managers can use forecasting data to reduce turnover by adjusting training to meet agent needs and aligning staffing with customer demand.

Another long-term strategy is gamification, which encourages healthy competition, reinforces learning, and keeps agents motivated beyond scheduling and pay.

This blog post has been re-published by kind permission of Aspect – View the Original Article

For more information about Aspect - visit the Aspect Website

Call Centre Helper is not responsible for the content of these guest blog posts. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of Call Centre Helper.

Author: Aspect
Reviewed by: Robyn Coppell