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Business intelligence and data visualization for the BPO industry

BPO Analytics and Data Visualization to extract Real-time Business Value from a BPO Business

The modern BPO providers find Business intelligence, Data Visualization and a range of BPM/technology platforms as a necessity for their success and profitability

Info Science solutions for the BPO industry covers all the key metrics such as Attendance, Customer Value Pass Rate, Resource Utilization and Retention.

Our experienced team can consolidate data from multiple IVR solutions like Avaya, Dell, Nortal, data from HR management systems and Work force management systems etc.to provide analytics to further help management take business decisions based on insights and facts.

BPO Analytics

Info Science BPO specific Contact Centre BI Solutions represents KPIs that must be captured and reported to ensure that department level objectives are being met, also simultaneously keeping the main objective in mind.

Our solution integrates information from multiple systems within the BPO and consolidates it into one manageable data repository so as to help in providing personalized dashboards, reports and core analytical capabilities that include but are not limited to drill-down, sorting and filtering. By accessing information from multiple data sources, BPO client can set up different metrics to measure performance.

We strive to provide the management with dashboards that are specifically designed to assess their business through a set of user friendly dashboards with drill downs to showcase exact cause and effect by analysing all historic and current data and also by applying industry specific metrics and KPIs.

Our Team at Info Science has worked with multiple clients in the BPO sector including a TATA Group company. We’ve put together a detailed table (See below) from the knowledge that we have acquired by working with various clients to implement BPO Analytics.

Below are the visuals that can be expectedand the required data set required to generate the respective views


S.No Chart Name (Dashboard views) Fields to be used Purpose
1 Combination chart with
overlapping bars & a line
Year
Call Volume
Service Level
Call Volume Vs Service Level
2 Trend analysis Cost per contact with bar chart Year
Month
Service Cost per contact
1. Cost Per Contact/Month/quarter/year
2. Show hourly / daily / weekly / monthly / Quarterly / YOY / MOM trend for outbound calls
3. Show hourly / daily / weekly / monthly / Quarterly / YOY / MOM trend for inbound calls
3 Bar Chart Agent-Id
Customer _id
Call VolumeCustomer Satisfaction rate
Year
1. Cost Per Contact/Month/quarter/year
2. Show hourly / daily / weekly / monthly / Quarterly / YOY / MOM trend for outbound calls
3. Show hourly / daily / weekly / monthly / Quarterly / YOY / MOM trend for inbound calls
4 Line Chart Agent-Id
Customer _id
Call VolumeCustomer Satisfaction rate
Year
Avg. Speed of answer in Seconds (helps the Customer reduce the answering speed)
5 Pie Chart Customer Satisfaction To know the Satisfactory levels of the customers
6 Map Calls by Country
Region
To know details of the customer
7 Scatter plot Total Number of calls
Calls answered
Abandoned Calls
Arrival Time
Using scatter plots is a quick, effective way to spot outliers that might warrant further investigation.
8 Bubble Chart Customer Category
Closed Calls
Cost per call
To know the highest customer category contribution
9 Histogram Chart Call Waiting Times
Percentage of Call volume
Waiting times for two different calls
10 Bullet Chart Number of calls
Customer satisfaction
Abandoned Calls
Handled by IVR (Interactive Voice Response)
Average Handling time
Evaluating performance of a metric against a goal
11 Tree Map Abandoned Rate
Average After Call work
Cost Per Unit
Attrition
Treemaps are ideal for displaying large amounts of hierarchically structured (tree-structured) data. The space in the visualization is split up into rectangles that are sized and ordered by a quantitative variable.
12 Call out Boxes Agents Logged in
Total Calls Today
Agents Ready
Calls Waiting
Average Call Length
Average Speed Of answer
Average Call Waiting
FCR (First Call Resolution)
Dynamic Display in the Dashboards
13 Box and Whisker Plot Average Talk Time
Total Call volume
Wrape Time
Showing the distribution of a set of a data.Examples: Understanding data at a glance, seeing how data is skewed towards one end, identifying outliers in data.
14 Group of Line charts and bar charts Discrete Total Number of calls
Time of Day
Call Type (Local, National, International etc.)
Total Average Call Time
Customer Name
Region
This chart shows the series of call volume
15 Heat Map Time Count
% of Calls(Percentage of calls initiated
during this interval versus entire day.)
Minutes
Average
This chart helps show the Time of the day report along with the relationship between two factors.

Formulas that are usually used in the backend to provide more insights with the data that has been collected


S.No Name Calculation Description
1 Customer Satisfaction rate Satisfied Customers/Total Calls When an agent asks if the customer is satisfied they may not receive a valid answer. To assume that the customer’s transaction is complete and therefore the customer is satisfied is incorrect as well. Secondary surveys are the most accurate method of calculating CSat ratings.
2 Cost per Contact ACD Calls Per hour/Agents hourly rate If you Contact Centre has multiple agents with varyinghourly rates then this calculation should be taken across the entire call centre or for each group, depending on how your call centre is set up. In this case total ACD calls for the group / total agents hourly rate. IVR cost per call is calculated by determiningthe amortization schedule of the IVR, breaking that cost down to a monthly amount and then dividing the number of calls handled by the IVR for the month / amortized IVR cost for the month. Only calls that are fully handled by the IVR can be used in this calculation.
3 Abandonment Rate(ABN%) Number of calls abandoned/ Total calls Call abandoned should be after the first 8-10 seconds. Most calls abandoned during this time are false abandons, wrong numbers, caller was interrupted, caller was not ready, etc. Some call centres are including IVR abandons as well but only when they are certain their IVR is functioning properly.
4 Agent utilization Rate (AUE%) also known as Occupancy (OCC) Total talk time+After call work+Idle Time (in hoursor minutes) Total paid hours worked(both in hours or minutes). The total talk time, idle time, after call work, hours worked must all be for the same length of time (days, hours or minutes). If you capture total talk time and after call work for the week, then the total hours worked must be for the week as well.
Example: Talk time = 18 hours, After call work = 10 hours, Idle time = 2 hours, Number of hours worked = 38. 18 +10 + 2 =30, 30/38 = 79% agent utilization rate. Industry best practices suggest that an agent utilization rate should fall between 70 -85%. To low and the agent is bored, too high and the agent is stressed. Either condition will result in a high attrition rate among the agents.
5 Average Handle Time (AHT) or Average Call Handle Time (ACHT) Total talk time + wrap time (After call works)/total calls Average Handling Time (AHT) is a key measure for any contact centre planning system, as it tells you how long a new item of work takes to be handled, and not just the talk time.
6 Average Talk Time Total Talk Time/Total Calls Answered Most ACD systems provide this number on a report. The definition of the talk time takes the total talk time (time spent by agents talking with customers on the phone when calls come in) and the total number of calls answered (ACD Calls).
7 Average Speed Of Answer Total Waiting time for all callers (in secs.) / Total Numbers of Callers Average Speed of Answer. ASA is a call centre metric for the average amount of time it takes for calls to be answered in a call centre during a specific time period.
8 Cost per unit Total Fixed Costs+Total Variable Costs / Total Units Produced The cost incurred by a company to produce, store and sell one unit of a particular product. Unit costs include all fixed costs (i.e. plant and equipment) and all variable costs (labor, materials, etc.) involved in production.
8 Service Level (Total Calls answered with in threshold/Total calls answered + Total Calls abandoned) x 100 After you have decided how to classify abandonedcalls, you should define a service level formula, based on this classification. This is essential to ensuring that service level is measured consistently over time.

Required Data Fields


S.No Required Fields Description
1 Abandoned calls Calls that arrive at the ACD but terminate before an advisor has answered (See also answered calls & lost calls). The call centre SLA for abandoned calls is 5% or less of offered calls. Call centre management information only reports on calls that abandon after 15 seconds (Callers abandoning before this time are generally those who’ve heard the welcome announcement & realise they’ve called the wrong number, or are organisations testing HDC for speed & type of response. The time is set at 15 seconds because it’s from that time on that the customer is placed with or queues for an available advisor)
2 Absence Unplanned inability of an advisor to work the scheduled shift (Typically this arises from sickness, or compassionate leave where the advisor has no holiday entitlement left)
3 ACD (Automatic Call Distributor) Technology that facilitates the handling of large call volumes by controlling the order in which calls are offered to agents, routing calls to particular advisor groups and providing a wide range of statistical information used in managing a call centre. Either hardware or software based, the ACD offers sophisticated options for call handling within a centre.
4 Adherence How well agents adhere to their shift schedules. Usually expressed as a percentage of logged on time.
5 Announcement A recorded verbal message played to callers.
6 Answered calls Calls that arrive at the ACD & are answered by an advisor. See also answered calls & lost calls. The call centre SLA for answered calls is 95% or more of offered calls. Call centre management information only reports on calls that abandon after 15 seconds, so the answered percentage is measured on offered calls whose call length is at least that length. Callers abandoning before this time are generally those who’ve heard the welcome announcement & realise they’ve called the wrong number, or are organisations testing HDC for speed & type of response. The time is set at 15 seconds because it’s from that time on that the customer is placed with or queues for an advisor.
7 Attrition The term used to cover loss of staff from a centre usually described as an annualised percentage of total staff.
8 Available The status of an advisor who is logged into the ACD and waiting for an inbound call.
9 AHT (Average Handling Time) The sum of the average talk time, hold time and the average wrap for a specified period.
10 Busy tone Callers unable to get through because all lines in are occupied will get a busy tone (the equivalent of an engaged tone). The call centre has a total of 60 lines, split between 30 for inbound calls & 30 for outbound calls. However, calls coming into the call centre are routed through the switch at Pathfinder House. To some extent the capacity of the call centre is therefore governed by the capacity at PFH.
11 CIQ Calls in Queue. The number of calls received by the ACD but not yet connected to an advisor.
12 CLI (Calling line identification) Technology that enables a caller's number to be (optionally) forwarded with the call, thus facilitating identification.
13 Cost per call Calculated by dividing the number of calls handled into the full cost of the entire call centre operation. There can be issues in comparing costs on this basis unless operational costs are understood across the comparators.
14 Cost per call minute Calculated by multiplying the average length of call (in minutes) by the number of calls and dividing this figure into the full cost of the entire call centre operation.
15 Cross selling Recommending related goods and services to a customer.
16 CRM Customer Relationship Management. Where companies record information and use a variety of methods and contact strategies to try to build lasting and profitable relationships.
17 CTI (Computer Telephony Integration) The software, hardware and programming that automatically links voice with the data stored in the computer, providing sophisticated customer management possibilities. CTI will usually allow calls and accompanying computer screens to be passed between workstations for referral, called ‘screen popping’.
18 DDI (Direct Dial Inward) The option to dial directly into a company and reach a specific extension without going through a switchboard.
19 Erlang A formula developed to determine call traffic management including scheduling of agents, call forecasting and service level achievement. There are several versions of the formula, each with a slightly different purpose.
20 FRE Free agents. The number of agents who are available to take a call.
21 FTE Full time equivalent. The number of agents employed or required expressed in terms of total man-hours required divided by the number of hours a full time advisor would normally work.
22 Group A collection of agents that share a common set of skills, such as being able to handle customer payments.
23 Handled calls The number of calls answered by agents. Handled calls do not include calls that abandon or receive a busy tone.
24 Handled first time The proportion of calls that are handled by call centre agents without the need to transfer the call to the service department. If an advisor refers to the service department for advice but retains the call this is counted as first time resolved.
25 Hold Time The time in seconds an advisor puts a customer on hold.
26 ICT (Information & Computer Technology) Computer technology used specifically to handle information and communication.
27 Inbound call Where the customer is making the call.
28 Intelligent routing A process that will take information from callers via auto attendant or IVR and utilise that information to ensure that calls are directed to the right group within the call centre.
29 IVR Interactive Voice Response. Software that will automatically interacts with a caller either through a keypad or using voice recognition software. IVR will provide information or direct calls as appropriate.
30 KPI (Key Performance Indicators) Those areas identified by organisations as being critical to their successful performance.
31 LWT The longest time a caller has waited in the queue.
32 Logged on time The time an advisor is signed on to the ACD, regardless of their status during that time.
33 Lost calls Calls that arrive at the ACD & are not answered by an advisor
34 Message A recorded message left by a customer who selects the option to do this while queuing rather than waiting to speak to an advisor.
35 Offered calls The attempts callers make to reach the call centre. The call centre SLA on offered calls is to forecast within +/-5% of actual. Call centre management information only reports on calls that abandon after 15 seconds, so offered calls reported are those whose call length is at least that length. Callers abandoning before this time are generally those who’ve heard the welcome announcement & realise they’ve called the wrong number, or are organisations testing HDC for speed & type of response. The time is set at 15 seconds because it’s from that time on that the customer is placed with or queues for an advisor.
36 Outbound call Where HDC is making the call.
37 Overflow Calls that flow from one group another after defined criteria such as queue time.
38 Position in queue The position a customer’s call is within the queue, generally used to play an announcement to the customer giving this information.
39 Queue Where calls are held when no agents are available.
40 Queue time The number of seconds a call waits in queue before being handled.
41 Screen popping Where integration between the computer and the telephone (CTI) enables the system to attempt identification of each call and look into the database for a match, and, if available, to deliver a caller information screen with the call.
42 Service levels A range of performance objectives. The main ones for the calls centre are offered calls, answeredcalls, speed of answer, handled first time and speed of response to emails(for which the service level is within 2 working days)
43 Shrinkage A percentage of scheduled ftes that will be away from work during a particular period for such things as holidays, sickness, training, one to ones and unavailable reasons. This enables a forecast to be built from the minimum required staffing to reach service levels up to the number of staff to be scheduled to ensure the minimum is reached during the period.
44 SLA (Service Level Agreement) Performance objectives agreed between the user and the provider of a service. A service level agreement specifies a variety of performance standards.
45 Skills based routing Where calls are identified by number called or IVR responses and routed through to the most appropriate advisor.
46 Speed of answer The average time taken for a call to be answered by an advisor. Calculated as the average length of time a caller waits to be connected to an advisor divided by total number of calls. The call centre SLA for SoA is 80% of calls to be answered within 20 seconds.
47 Status The mode an advisor is in (Available, Talk Time, Hold Time, Wrap& Unavailable).
48 Talk time The time in seconds an advisor is talking to the customer, from answering a call to the caller hanging up, but excluding any hold time.
49 Unavailable Advisor status when logged on to the ACD but not available to take calls, for example during paid breaks or coaching sessions.
50 Utilisation The percentage of time agents are actively occupied handling customers’ calls, usually expressed as a percentage of total logged on time.
51 Wallboard A visual display mounted on the wall that provides real-time and historical information on queue conditions, advisor status and call centre performance.
52 Wrap The time spent completing work associated with a call after the caller has hung up. Currently the ACD is set to automatically give HDC agents 10 seconds wrap before becoming available again as a breathing space between calls.
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