What Is Average Handling Time (AHT)?

AHT is the amount of time it takes an agent to deal with all aspects of a call,it includes talk time plus After-Call Work (ACW).

Average Handling Time is a key metric in any contact centre or BPO, as it dictates your Calls Per Hour (CPH) rate. So how do you measure it?

The Average Handling Time (AHT) Formula

The formula for calculating AHT is as follows:

Wrap-up time may also be known as Wrap Time or After-Call Work time.

Worked Example

All of the following data can be pulled from the contact centre’s Automated Call Distribution (ACD) system or, failing that, can be gathered from Call Detail Records (CDRs).

The data used in the example below is the accumulation of all the length of all calls throughout one day in the contact centre.

Total Talk Time: 7 days + 17 hours + 36 minutes + 45 seconds = 668,205 seconds
Total Hold Time: 1 day, 3 hours + 32 minutes + 33 seconds = 99, 153 seconds
Total Wrap Time: 2 days, 7 hours +5 minutes + 6 seconds = 198,306 seconds
Number of Calls Handled: 4311 calls

If your ACD system produces an average figure for total talk time, total hold time and total wrap time, there is no need to divide the sum of the figures by the number of calls handled.

The Average Handling Time (AHT) GlidePath

The AHT glidepath is the time it takes an agent to reach proficiency in a contact centre. When agents come out of induction training they will typically have a much longer average handling time than when they become fully proficient.

That period could be anywhere from six weeks to three months, possibly even a year in a complex technical area.

The glidepath is the formula that shows that proficiency happening over time and that glidepath is what’s called an exponential decay.

Watch this video to find out more and you can also download a free copy of the spreadsheet.