How does a Philippine call center calculate agent workload?

OABPO Blog Team Published on April 23, 2014

-Philippine-call-center-
Statistics gathered by career resources site Salary Explorer revealed that Philippine call center agents work for an average of 8.4 hours each day. Like most jobs, inbound customer service representatives (CSR) have five working days and two rest days a week. However, there are no standardized ways to measure their workload because the assignment of their tasks can be random instead of sequential.

Call center staffing

technical-support-call-center--

Inbound call center staffing is different from the staffing schemes of jobs with fixed work patterns. To illustrate, we will compare the typical workload of a mail clerk with the daily tasks of a CSR.

Let’s say that the company needs to handle 400 pieces of mail per hour, with each piece taking three minutes to process. To accomplish this, the company needs 20 clerks working all at once; each one is tasked to process 20 pieces of mail per hour. Here, it is easy to determine the amount of work assigned to each employee because the arrival of tasks is set or sequential in nature.

This same scheme may not work for inbound call centers because the arrival of calls is not always predetermined. For instance, if a call center receives an average of 300 calls an hour, with each call taking four minutes to handle, having 20 agents may not be enough. One moment, there might be too many calls on hold, and the next, there might be too many agents idle. Since the calls placed by customers ebb and flow, the call center workload can indeed be random. As such, Philippine call center firms follow the cardinal rule of having more staff hours in place than hours of actual work to do.

Call center expert Penny Reynolds explained, “The number of ‘extra’ staff needed depends on how fast the center wishes to answer calls. Obviously, the more staff in place, the shorter the delay. The fewer the staff, the longer the caller will wait.”

Erlang C

Most call centers use the Erlang C formula to map agent workload. This method predicts call waiting times and calculates delays before callers reach a live agent. The Erlang C formula is based on these three factors:

•   The number live CSRs

•   The number of callers waiting

•   The average period it takes to handle each call

Another thing that Erlang C calculates is the resources necessary in keeping wait periods within the call center’s limits. This formula assumes no calls are lost and no lines are busy. Therefore, it fits with the cardinal rule of call center staffing mentioned earlier.  Using this formula is a path that will allow you to more accurately calculate the inbound volume and staff accordingly.

Join us on facebook
Open Access BPO 2 days ago
The 𝗣𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀 is a top #outsourcing destination. The country's capital, Manila, where Makati is located, houses most of the country's top 1,000 companies.
𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗕𝗣𝗢's flagship center in Makati leverage world-class infrastructures and the nation's most expansive talent pool.

Our facilities in the Makati Central Business District offer scalable multilingual solutions for global businesses.

𝗗𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝟯𝟬 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀: https://buff.ly/4e7eRln

----------
𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗕𝗣𝗢
• Our Solutions: https://buff.ly/4f22Mip
• Our Other Locations: https://buff.ly/4e68ej1

#WeSpeakYourLanguage
Open Access BPO 2 days ago
𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗕𝗣𝗢 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗸𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗳𝗳 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲-𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵 𝘄𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝗢𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟯𝟬, 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰.

Drop It Like It's Hot: The OABPO Weight Loss Challenge began with an early morning wellness session hosted by the outsourcing company's Clinic Services with guest speaker, fitness coach JR Madriaga. Both the morning and evening sessions were streamed online for those who could not be physically present.

After discussing the rules of the challenge and weigh-in schedules, Coach JR talked about some of the most effective methods of losing weight. He highlighted the healthiest ways for the participants to get their weight loss journey started.

A high-energy Zumba session soon followed the discussion. It not only served as a fun way to start the challenge but also emphasized the importance of incorporating physical activity into daily routines.

More than 80 employees from both Open Access BPO Makati and Davao signed up for the three-month weight loss challenge. The grand prize, originally P25,000, has since been doubled to P50,000, with the winner to be announced in next year's Kick Off Party.
Open Access BPO 2 days ago
Did you know that it's possible for you to connect with your Chinese #ecommerce customers even though you don't speak their language?

#CallCenter outsourcing can greatly help in atracting and supporting customers from this gigantic Asian market.
Here's how partnering with an #outsourcing #CustomerExperience procall center can establish these connections: https://buff.ly/3C8HG3G

----------
Whether it's Mandarin, Cantonese, or Hokkien, Open Access BPO's multilingual services are your best bet for an improved market presence in China: https://buff.ly/48uCcfp

#WeSpeakYourLanguage
#CustomerSupport #MultilingualCallCenter
Open Access BPO 2 days ago
𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐲, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫.

Our blog post provides you expert tips and strategies to help you handle these situations with empathy and professionalism.
Discover effective strategies and best practices to ensure your communication remains clear, respectful, and compassionate: https://buff.ly/4eaaJkD

----------
Deliver exceptional #CustomerExperience with our services to ensure #CustomerRetention and foster brand loyalty: https://buff.ly/4f3L4vd

#WeSpeakYourLanguage
#CustomerSupport #CX #CSat
#outsourcing #CustomerSatisfaction
Open Access BPO 3 days ago
Our dedicated Xiamen and Taipei teams always go #AboveAndBeyond for our customers. To show our appreciation for their hard work, we spent during #CSWeek treating them to some fun and games at the office.

They even took part in the special video challenge to share how they show their dedication in customer service. And of course, they had a special dinner last Friday to close the festivities.

#WeSpeakYourLanguage
#CustomerServiceWeek #CSWeek
#OABPOCSWeek2024 #AboveAndBeyond
#CustomerServiceWeek2024
Open Access BPO 4 days ago
𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞 #𝐂𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐒𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡-𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 #𝐂𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦.

Learn about the crucial skills, traits, and mindset of these #CustomerService experts, key for exceptional #CX and sustained positive brand reputation.

Here are the types of high-performing customer support agents: https://buff.ly/40pii3K

----------
Outsource with us today and get a team of dedicated experts for your business needs: https://buff.ly/3C0mNHH

#WeSpeakYourLanguage
#CallCenters #CX #oustourcing