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AHT is Average Handling Time. This is the most commonly used metric in contact centres and represents the average length of time a call takes to complete a customer enquiry. The longer the call, the more cost is involved. The aim is to reduce AHT to increase efficiencies and improve customer satisfaction.
The length of AHT is a mark of a contact center's efficiency and the aim is always to reduce AHT so that the customer has the smoothest experience. Factors that impact AHT are total talk time, total hold time and the number of calls handled.
The basic formula for calculating AHT is:
(Talk time + hold time) / calls = AHT calculated in minutes of seconds
NOTE: This is often confused with Agent Handling Time, which is a different metric based on the time the agent takes to handle a call.
The formula for calculating Agent Handling Time is more complex, as it may involve multiple agents and time when the caller is on hold but the agent is doing other tasks, plus time when the caller is no longer involved but the agent is doing follow-up work.
Average Handling Time can also be used for live chat, where the calculation is based on the length of time the agent has chat open with the customer.
Read more about how advanced IVR can help reduce average handling time.