Glossary
Call center glossary
The call and contact center world is full of arcane terms and abbreviations. This section is your resource to decipher them! If you've ever wondered how a DNIS is different than an ANI or how to decipher your telco billing because you can't figure out “termination” versus “origination”, this is the place for you!
37 terms
A
- Abandoned CallsAbandoned calls are calls that were answered by the phone system (such as the ACD) but never reached a call center agent because the caller either hung up (usually due to a long wait), the caller w…
- Abandonment RateThe term “abandonment rate” relates to how many outbound autodialed or predictive dial calls are abandoned in relation to the number of calls that are answered by customers.
- AdherenceThe term “adherence” or “adherence to schedule” is a contact center term that refers to how well agents adhere to their schedules.
- After Call Work TimeThe term “After Call Work Time” (aka “ACW”) is the amount of time taken by a call center agent after hanging up a call.
- ANIThe term “ANI” refers to “automatic number identification”, a feature of telephone networks which allows the origination phone number to be identified on toll calls.
- Automatic Telephone Dialing System (ATDS)An automatic telephone dialing system (or “ATDS”) is a special type of dialing system that has been highly regulated by the TCPA.
- Avatar AutodialerAn avatar autodialer is a special type of autodialer that uses special soundboard technology where voice snippets are manipulated by a human operator to create realistic sounding dialog.
- Average Call ValueThe Average Call Value (or “ACV”) is determined by the total revenue divided by the total number of calls.
- Average Handle Time (“AHT”)The Average Handle Time (or “AHT”) refers to the average amount of time that a call lasts.
- Average Speed of Answer (“ASA”)The term “average speed of answer” (also known as “ASA”) refers to the average time it takes to answer an inbound call.
C
- Call OriginationCall origination is a telecommunications term and generally refers to an inbound call or to the party making a call (the “call originator”).
- Call PacingCall pacing is an algorithm that determines how fast (or at what “pace”) a predictive dialer makes outbound calls.
- Call PopA call pop (also known as a “screen pop”) is a way for a call center to present information about a call to an agent in conjunction with the arrival of an inbound call.
- Call Quality ScoreCall quality has a subjective component (how did the call quality seem to the agent or to the customer?) as well as an objective component (how well did the measured call attributes score?) The obj…
- Call TerminationCall termination is a telecommunications term and generally refers to an outbound call or to the party receiving a call (the “call terminator”).
- CCaaSCCaaS means “contact center as a service” or “call center as a service”.
- CRMA CRM (or “customer relationship management”) is a software application that holds the points of data on an organization’s customers, sales, leads and past transactions.
D
- Data DipA “data dip” is a database lookup that is performed when an inbound phone call arrives at an ACD.
- Disposition CodeDisposition codes (sometimes called “dispo codes“) are short codes or names that are used by call center agents (or call center software) to “disposition” a call.
- DNISDNIS is an acronym for “Dialed Number Identification Service”.
- Do Not Originate ListEveryone hates spam calls. The telephone network providers have banded together to create the “do not originate list“, which is essentially a blacklist that blocks some phone numbers from being used as outbound calls.
E
- eGaineGain is an award-winning, customer-focused contact center solutions provider that helps contact professionals and call centers deliver exceptional customer service that results in a competitive edge.
- ErlangErlang is a unit that is used in telephony to measure “load” (or the volume of calls or chats) on a system (such as a call center ACD).
F
G
L
M
O
R
S
T
- Telemarketing Sales Rule Safe HarborIn the U.S., the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) Safe Harbor establishes a 3% Call Abandonment Rate as a safe harbor for telemarketers.
- Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)The U.S. Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) is the primary federal law governing the regulation of telephone solicitations.
- Text to Speech (TTS)Text-to-speech processing is a form of speech processing that is used to convert words into spoken language.
U
- UCaaSUCaaS is an acronym for “unified communications as a service”.
- “Unknown Caller” vs. “No Caller ID”: Understanding Telco TermsFor call center professionals (especially those involved in outbound dialing campaigns), it’s important to understand the different terms and features associated with caller ID.