The best call centers may have evolved into omnichannel contact centers that engage customers well beyond the traditional voice channel, but still the talk time metric gets a lot of attention.
Whether you operate an outbound, inbound, or blended call center, the talk time metric certainly has its place in your call center’s reporting. But when voicemails and messages, texts, emails, and more are a central part of the business cycle, you might need to reconsider the talk time metric.
In this post, we take a look at the dynamics of talk time in a call center and consider its relationship with other metrics. We want you to think about the time your reps spend on the phone—but consider it from the perspectives of quality, not just quantity.
What Is Average Talk Time in a Call Center?
For starters, let’s get down to brass tacks on the talk time metric.
Average talk time is just like it sounds: it’s the average amount of time spent actually talking to customers on each call. The simple formula for average talk time is:
Total Talk Time ÷ Number of Calls = Average Talk Time
Talk time is a purely quantitative metric. Along with another quantitative metric, the daily average number of calls per agent made, it can provide a snapshot of your call center’s productivity.
For instance, you can compare these metrics on a per agent basis against industry benchmarks. It’s estimated the average B2B salesperson makes 35 calls per day. However, in call centers—especially those high-volume operations powered by autodialers—that number can be considerably higher, reaching into the triple-digits. Meanwhile, talk times also vary based on the type of call center: Inbound call centers’ talk time averages about 228 seconds, while outbound call centers’ average talk time is estimated to be around 358.2 seconds.
While these numbers are important, a rep or manager who focuses on making a numeric quota of calls or a specific time risks confusing volume with value. Sales rhythm and the quality of that conversation’s content are also factors you should closely monitor.