Call volume Definition

What is call volume?

Call volume is a measure of the total inbound calls entering a call center, and it can be measured in various time increments, such as daily, every hour, every 15 minutes, monthly, etc.

It’s important to have a handle on call volume because it impacts how effective your agents can be throughout their shift, and it impacts how your brand will be perceived as well. If the call volume is massive, but the call center isn’t prepared for that, there will be significant hold times or rushed calls – and then the brand suffers. If the call volume is tiny, but the call center is overstaffed, now you’re paying a vendor for people who aren’t doing that much all day. You want to make sure your customers reaching a call center are happy and having a good experience, which means well-trained agents who aren’t overwhelmed by call volume.

Keep an eye on this metric as a result.

Third-party vendors (such as us) can track call volume with a number of contextual experiences, i.e. work with other clients, in addition to using software and formulas to figure out call volume numbers and align staffing with projected volume, per shift and per season. That last part is important – some retailers, for example, will have massive jumps in call volume around the holidays (November and December), but may not need as many agents in January and February. You don’t want to get locked into a contract where you pay fairly for a few months, then end up significantly overpaying. You want to make sure there is seasonal fluctuation baked into any vendor contract because that keeps your cost position strong relative to call volume at different times of the year.