The term “average speed of answer” (also known as “ASA”) refers to the average time it takes to answer an inbound call. The formula for average speed of answer is the total delay divided by the total number of calls.
The total delay is typically measured from the time the inbound call hits (or arrives at) the ACD or switch.
The average speed of answer is a useful call center metric as it provides a quick indication of how the call center load is being handled. The average speed of answer metric is commonly presented over different periods of time. For example, it may be broken down into:
- Average speed of answer this hour
- Average speed of answer today
- Average speed of answer on a specific day of week (e.g., Monday, etc.)
The metric may also be expressed as a trend comparing a period of time to a prior period of time or an average of prior periods of time. For example:
- Average speed of answer this hour compared to last hour
- Average speed of answer today compared to yesterday
- Average speed of answer today compared with the average speed of answer for the same day
The average speed of answer is often broken down for different campaigns or programs. This provides a great indicator of whether a campaign is over or understaffed.
Do not confuse average speed of answer as a metric of how customers are being handled. Some calls will be answered quickly and others may have a horrible experience. Average speed of answer is just an average. You may want to include analytics showing the outliers as well.
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