Even if there are similar projects, there are many factors that influence finding individual approaches to them. One is the number of agents that should work on the project. After all, the correctly selected number of specialists affects the efficiency of work with clients and the agents’ motivation.

So, what methods will help to determine the required number of specialists for a project — learn more about the recommendations of the A.R.C.E. contact center, which has implemented more than 600 projects over 15 years.

№1. Determine the number of incoming calls 

Automated Call Distribution (ACD) is a system of automatic call distribution. It automatically accepts calls and transfers them to an available agent.

The purpose of the ACD is to help triage calls and manage a large number of calls to avoid overwhelming the team. It also improves the customer experience by ensuring that they are connected to a competent agent in the shortest possible time.

First, you need to clarify the size of the client base, the number of working days per year, and determine how many times a year each client will call.

Consider an example:

Customer base: 40,000.

Calls per year per client: 3.

The number of working days: 250.

Then the process looks like this:

40,000 x 3 = 120,000 calls every year.

120,000/250 = 480 calls per day.

№2. Find out the average time of processing a client’s request

Average Handling Time (AHT) is the time a contact center agent spends on a call. To calculate AHT, it is also necessary to have information about the duration of interaction between clients and consultants, including hold, total conversation time, and post-processing of the request. AHT formula = call duration + average call completion time (post-processing).

What should be considered?

Certainly, AHT gives a general understanding of the situation. However, we at A.R.C.E. believe that it is not necessary to evaluate the work of agents solely by ANT or to emphasize only this. After all, the main task of agents is to provide quality service for customers and to process calls in a short period.

№3. Determine service level

An exemplary indicator of the level of services provided by a contact center is considered to be 80/20. It is about the fact that in 80 cases out of 100 agents should answer the call within 20 seconds. And contact center teams are constantly working on improving this indicator.

Importantly! Achieving 100% of the target service level is impossible, as this requires an extremely large number of agents. This will lead to their downtime, as well as multiply costs.

№4. Maximum employment factor

This is one of the most often overlooked factors when calculating the number of agents needed in a contact center.

In A.R.C.E.’s experience, 80-85% is the optimal occupancy rate that will keep agents productive. After all, there is a high probability that if you try to increase it, agents will burn out or staff turnover in the contact center will increase.

№5: Erlang calculator

This tool was invented by the Danish scientist Agner Krarup Erlang. It helps to calculate the approximate number of agents. And also takes into account the number of calls, the average duration of the conversation, and the average waiting time for an answer.

  • Erlang Calculator B: Calculates the number of telephone lines needed by a contact center based on the expected number of calls.
  • Erlang  Сalculator C: calculates the number of contact center agents depending on the load.

You can leave data and get an approximate calculation.

An error occurred when calculating the number of agents

The nuance that needs to be taken into account is the distribution of the total number of minutes of conversations by the number of hours in the working day.

Example:

  • 6000 requests per day.
  • 2 minutes for average processing time (AHT).
  • 6 hours for the working day.

 

As a result, the following calculations (numbers) are obtained:

  • 6 x 60 = 360 minutes.
  • 360/3 = 120 calls per agent per business day.
  • 6000/150 = 40 agents required.

 

However, these calculations miss the following important factors:

  • the volume of calls varies throughout the day;
  • clients may wait a long time for an agent’s response;
  • holidays, illnesses, meetings, etc.

If you cannot determine how many specialists need to be recruited for the project, or if you have questions or want to receive advice, contact us. Our manager will reply to discuss the details and help you.