What is Call Center Occupancy?

Call center occupancy measures the time agents spend on call-related activities relative to their total logged-in hours. A higher occupancy rate indicates that agents spend most of their working hours engaged in customer interactions.

Call-related activities include talk time, hold time, and after-call work time (ACWT). Talk time refers to agents actively speaking with customers to address their concerns. Hold time is when customers are placed on hold while agents work on their cases. After-call work time (ACWT) includes call-related tasks agents perform after the call has ended. These activities constitute the handling time for each call.

With these data points, the occupancy rate can be calculated using this formula:

Occupancy Rate (%) = ( Handling time / Total logged time ) x 100

An 80% to 90% occupancy rate shows that agents are maximizing their working hours without being overworked. Monitoring and understanding call center occupancy increases efficiency by accurately identifying peak and off-peak times to predict staffing needs.