Six minutes. That’s long been considered the industry standard for average handle time (AHT) — the amount of time a customer service representative spends managing a single incoming phone call.
While six minutes serves as a general benchmark, AHT can vary significantly by industry because not all contact centres have the same operational needs or customer expectations. Plus, to stand out from the competition, simply meeting the industry standard isn’t enough. You must aim to exceed it.
Calls vary, too. Some interactions take longer than others, especially in industries like healthcare, where patient calls can be complex and time-consuming for agents to handle. On the other hand, there are calls that end too quickly, leaving callers feeling rushed or that their problems or concerns weren’t fully addressed.
Striking the right balance between efficiency and effectiveness is critical for contact centre success. In this post, we’ll look at some of the ways contact centre managers can improve AHT— both quantitatively and qualitatively — so that customer satisfaction and agent performance are enhanced.
Average handle time (AHT) is a common metric used to measure the efficiency of customer service representatives in a contact centre. AHT measures the total time agents spend managing a call. It includes both talk and hold time as well as after-call work (ACW), including any reporting the agent must complete to resolve and log the call.
It follows that if AHT is low, customer service representatives can handle more calls during their shifts. However, a low AHT does not automatically indicate efficiency. A low AHT could be a sign that agents aren’t resolving issues satisfactorily or are rushing calls, leaving customers frustrated and leading to repeat calls.
When agents handle calls quickly and to customers’ satisfaction, other key contact centre metrics, such as first call resolution (FCR) and customer satisfaction scores (CSAT), should be trending positively, as well.
AHT is relatively simple to calculate. The formula is:
AHT = (Total Talk Time + Total Hold Time + Total ACW) ÷ Total Number of Calls
Here’s a breakdown of the components in the formula:
Here’s an example calculation of AHT:
Say that a contact centre agent works a 10-hour shift, five days a week. (That equates to 50 hours or 3,000 minutes per week.) During that workweek, the agent logs:
That adds up to 2,500 total handle minutes. So, if the agent handled 250 callers during the workweek, the AHT would be 10 minutes per call:
AHT = 2,500 minutes ÷ 250 calls = 10 minutes per call
AHT can have significant implications throughout the contact centre, impacting everything from operational efficiency to workflow and even customer and agent satisfaction.
It’s easy to see how AHT might affect customer satisfaction either negatively or positively.
An agent handling calls too quickly might seem efficient, but they may be rushing callers with the aim to earn a low AHT. Callers may end up feeling unheard or dismissed as a result. On the flip side, an agent in need of training who takes too long to resolve issues can frustrate customers. Both scenarios can lead to low customer satisfaction scores (CSAT).
Think of the story of “Goldilocks and the Three Bears.” Contact centre managers want to see their agents hit an AHT that is just right — that ideal middle ground Goldilocks would covet. When the AHT is just right, it means that agents are handling calls fast enough to respect customers’ time while also being thorough enough to resolve their queries and issues to their satisfaction.
AHT doesn’t just affect customer satisfaction — it also has a significant operational impact on contact centres.
And therein lies the challenge: balancing efficiency with quality. When agents rush through calls to hit aggressive AHT targets, the result can be poor customer experiences, which come with their own costs — from increased training and hiring to customer churn and reputational damage.
Contact centre managers who monitor, analyse, and refine AHT can help drive up customer satisfaction, reduce costs, and, in some cases, increase revenue.
Fortunately, there are technology solutions to help contact centre managers resolve AHT challenges and help their teams get to “just right” with this critical performance metric.
AI-driven quality management solutions help streamline customer interactions in the contact centre by providing deeper insights into every call and automating many routine tasks that prevent agents from working efficiently and focusing on delivering quality experiences.
Here are five ways in which using AI tools in the contact centre can help reduce AHT:
Contact centre managers know that few things frustrate callers more than being routed to the wrong agent or transferred multiple times. Every unnecessary transfer increases handle time and erodes customer satisfaction.
Intelligent call routing sets call response up for success by using insights from the caller’s pre-call digital journey to understand intent and then automatically route the call to the most appropriate agent.
Invoca uses a website tag to track privacy-friendly digital intent data points as consumers explore a website. As they explore, a dynamic number insertion (DNI) presents each visitor with a unique phone number tied to their specific session. When a consumer uses that unique Invoca-generated number, the digital data associated with the caller enables intelligent call routing to route the call to the right agent.
Imagine an online customer requests an auto insurance quote and then calls the insurer with questions. Instead of landing in a general queue, intelligent call routing sends that call directly to a sales agent who handles quotes — no transfers required. This improves the customer experience and reduces average handle time by cutting down on hold time and eliminating unnecessary handoffs.
AI technology can enhance contact centre efficiency by analysing and delivering real-time pre-call data gathered from online tracking. This gives agents valuable context before they even answer the phone, allowing them to personalise conversations and resolve issues faster.
Invoca PreSense, for example, empowers customer service agents by delivering digital journey data in real time. PreSense equips customer service agents with real-time digital journey insights, such as:
All of this information is delivered via a screen pop that appears on the agent’s desktop before the call connects, empowering agents before they even say “hello.” These pre-call insights can be instrumental in helping agents personalise the caller’s experience, increase customer satisfaction, and reduce AHT.
See how Invoca PreSense works in the short video below:
AI tools in the contact centre can also reduce AHT by automating and informing processes that enhance agent training. AI’s ability to analyse huge amounts of data in real time — including data from every call — gives managers deep insights into how agents handle customer inquiries. Quality management detects agents' strengths and weaknesses and determines whether they’re complying with industry standards and privacy requirements.
Quality management automates the objective process of scoring, giving managers more reliable results and more time to train agents. It also scales coaching by delivering a complete picture of performance throughout the contact centre as well as of individual agents.
Managers can use AI-powered quality management to address issues far faster and in greater depth than traditional QA scoring. By replacing manual sampling with comprehensive, real-time analysis, AI frees contact centre managers to focus on coaching rather than just auditing. They also get a complete, data-driven view of individual agent performance and overall contact centre trends, which allows them to tailor training programs for maximum impact.
Quality management drills deeper into agent-caller interactions by analysing inflection points in each conversation. If a caller’s tone or language signals frustration, the AI can immediately flag the interaction and push a real-time prompt to the agent advising them to change their approach. This could mean refocusing agents on a script or pivoting to a more empathetic tone. By empowering agents to course-correct in the moment, quality management helps to drive faster resolution times and reduce AHT.
Invoca’s AI-powered platform takes this further by tracking sentiment on both sides of the call — analysing the caller’s tone and responses alongside the agent’s delivery. This dual perspective helps agents adapt in real time and gives managers valuable coaching insights.
For instance, if an agent veers off script because the caller isn’t accepting their answers, AI can capture that interaction. Managers can then use it as a teachable moment, showing the agent what went wrong and how to respond more effectively next time. The result? The agent is better equipped to manage challenging calls, reduce frustration-fueled escalations, and keep AHT in check — all while delivering a better customer experience.
AI-driven quality management results in less ACW for agents by automating time-consuming, repetitive tasks like creating call summaries and notes and updating the CRM system.
Invoca automatically generates call recaps based on complete call transcripts immediately after each call so that agents don’t have to. This eliminates the need for agents to manually write notes, log details, or recap conversations — significantly reducing AHT.
Invoca’s Salesforce integration takes this further by seamlessly syncing:
All of this data is automatically attached to the caller’s record in Salesforce (or other integrated CRMs), cutting out manual data entry entirely. By automating ACW, agents spend less time on administrative work and more time focusing on the next customer and their needs.
Balancing the delivery of a superior customer experience with the ability to handle calls efficiently is the key to achieving that “just right” AHT. It’s the Goldilocks Objective for contact centre managers, if you will. You want your agents to handle calls from as many customers as possible during their shifts, but never at the expense of making each customer feel valued.
Anything contact centre managers can do to help agents reduce AHT gets them closer to meeting, and perhaps surpassing, their industry’s standard AHT. That’s where AI tools like Invoca can make a significant difference.
With Invoca’s quality management, contact centres can:
The result? Agents are more efficient, customers are more satisfied, and the contact centre strikes that just-right balance that defines a truly exceptional customer experience.
To learn more about how Invoca’s AI-driven quality management tools can help you reduce AHT in the contact centre, check out these resources:
Why not book a free demo with our team to learn how Invoca can help you lower AHT and make your contact centre — and your agents — more productive?
While the overall “industry standard” for AHT is six minutes, scores vary by industry, call type, and complexity. A good AHT score is one that aligns with industry benchmarks while still maintaining a high-quality customer experience. In short, speed matters, but not at the expense of customer satisfaction.
AHT is calculated by dividing the total time taken up in calls, including total talk time, total hold time, and total after-call work (ACW), by the total number of calls. The formula looks like this:
AHT = (Total Talk Time + Total Hold Time + Total ACW) ÷ Total Number of Calls
This formula gives contact centre managers a clear, measurable way to track agent efficiency and identify areas for improvement.
Let’s look at a practical example of an AHT calculation.
A hospital call centre handles 1,000 calls per week. During that week:
The formula and result for this example is:
AHT = (6,000 + 900 + 1,500) ÷ 1,000 = 8.4 minutes per call
