How to Reduce Average Handle Time (AHT) in Your Contact Center

What if we told you that the secret to boosting your contact center’s efficiency isn’t about speeding up your agents, but about understanding exactly where time is being lost?

Every call tells a story. From routine inquiries to complex troubleshooting, AHT reveals the hidden inefficiencies that impact both customer satisfaction and your bottom line. But here’s the catch: trimming AHT isn’t about cutting corners or rushing customers; it’s about being smarter with your resources, leveraging technology, and continually refining how your agents engage with customers.

Average Handle Time (AHT) is the unsung hero of your customer service operation. It’s not just a number, but a window into the strengths and weaknesses of your entire process.

In this post, we’ll uncover the true drivers of AHT and explore innovative strategies to reduce it without compromising quality. We'll show you how optimizing AHT can transform your contact center into a well-oiled, customer-first machine. Ready to change the way you view AHT? Let’s dive in.

What Is Average Handle Time (AHT)?

Average Handle Time (AHT) is the heartbeat of your contact center’s efficiency. It's more than just a number; AHT gives you a snapshot of how well your operation is running, from the first customer interaction to the final follow-up task.

Simply put, AHT measures the average time it takes to resolve a customer inquiry, and it’s made up of three key components: talk time, hold time, and after-call work.

AHT Formula:

This formula might look simple, but it captures a complex reality. Each element plays a critical role in shaping your customer experience and operational costs.

Breaking Down the Components:

1. Talk Time: This is the time an agent spends actively communicating with the customer. It includes all conversation time, whether the agent is providing solutions, answering questions, or documenting key information. For Talk Time, the formula looks like this:

For instance, if your agents spoke for 1,500 minutes across 250 calls, the Talk Time per call would be:

Talk Time = 1500/250 = 6 minutes per call.

2. Hold Time: Hold time is the amount of time a customer spends waiting for an agent or during any transfers, whether it's listening to music, waiting for an agent to pick up, or interacting with an IVR system.

Here's the formula for Hold Time:

If customers spent a total of 2,200 minutes on hold during the day, with 250 calls, the Hold Time per call would be:

Hold Time= 2200/250 = 8.8 minutes per call.

3. After-Call Work (ACW): After-call work refers to the time an agent spends completing tasks after the customer call ends. This includes inputting notes, updating records, scheduling follow-ups, and completing any administrative tasks related to the call.

Here's the formula for After-Call Work:

For example, if agents spent 3,000 minutes in after-call work, with 250 calls, the ACW per call would be:

After-Call Work = 3000/250 = 12 minutes per call.

Why AHT Matters for Cost and Customer Satisfaction?

AHT serves as a vital sign for both cost efficiency and customer satisfaction. Here's how:

Cost Efficiency:

Shorter AHT means agents can handle more calls within a given period. The difference is really longer. AHT directly translates to higher operational costs and lower agent productivity.

For example, if your AHT is 5 minutes, an agent can handle 12 calls in an hour. But if your AHT increases to 8 minutes, that drops to 7.5 calls per hour.

Customer Satisfaction (CSAT):

On the flip side, reducing AHT too much can harm customer experience. Customers who feel rushed or haven’t had their issues thoroughly addressed are less likely to leave the call satisfied. A happy medium is essential for reducing unnecessary wait times and post-call tasks without sacrificing the quality of interaction.

Let’s take a real-world example to see how AHT works in practice. Imagine a contact center that handles 250 calls in a day.

Here are the metrics for the day:

• Total Talk Time: 1,500 minutes
• Total Hold Time: 2,200 minutes
• Total After-Call Work Time: 3,000 minutes

So, the average handle time would be: 1,500+2,200+3,000 / 250 = 26.8 minutes per call. This metric gives you insight into how long it takes on average to resolve a customer’s inquiry, including all stages of the call.

Here’s a critical point: AHT isn’t just about cutting time. It’s about optimizing time. You might think a lower AHT is always better, but consider this:

• Overly quick calls can lead to poor service quality, leaving customers feeling dissatisfied or even unheard.
• Longer AHTs are not always a negative indicator; sometimes they signify that your agents are providing more detailed, personalized service.

Industry Benchmarks: Where Does Your AHT Stand?

While 6 minutes is often considered the industry benchmark for AHT, this varies widely depending on the industry and the complexity of calls. Here are some general guidelines:

Keep in mind, AHT is highly contextual. For example, if your business provides highly technical support, such as troubleshooting software bugs or resolving connectivity issues, then your AHT will likely be higher.

In contrast, a retail business handling basic inquiries (order status, product information) will have a lower AHT. The goal isn’t just to lower AHT but to find the sweet spot where both speed and quality are balanced.

Why Balancing AHT and Quality Matters

Reducing Average Handle Time (AHT) is often seen as a way to boost efficiency in a contact center, but a sole focus on cutting time can lead to unintended consequences. While speed is important, quality cannot be compromised.

Striking the right balance between AHT and service quality is crucial for long-term customer satisfaction and operational efficiency. Here's how to think about the challenge, the solution, and how to keep everything in balance.

When businesses prioritize reducing AHT above all else, there’s a risk of rushing through customer interactions. This often leads to:

• Incomplete Resolutions: Customers feel their issues aren’t thoroughly addressed.
• Lower First Call Resolution (FCR): More follow-up calls are needed because problems weren’t fully resolved on the first call.
• Lower Customer Satisfaction (CSAT): Customers are dissatisfied, even if they’re not aware of the time savings; what they value is a complete, thoughtful solution.

To ensure that you're optimizing AHT without sacrificing the quality of customer service, AHT should be viewed alongside key metrics like CSAT (Customer Satisfaction) and FCR (First Call Resolution).

Here’s how these elements work together:

AHT measures the efficiency of call resolution. However, focusing on reducing AHT too much can cause agents to rush through interactions, sacrificing quality.

CSAT measures how satisfied customers are with the service they receive. While reducing AHT might help with efficiency, it can negatively impact CSAT if customers feel their needs weren’t fully addressed or that they were rushed.

FCR gauges how effectively agents resolve issues during the first call. A focus on minimizing AHT might lead agents to cut corners, resulting in lower FCR if problems are not fully resolved, leading to more follow-up calls.

7 Effective Strategies to Reduce Average Handle Time

Reducing Average Handle Time (AHT) without compromising service quality is a fine art. It requires optimizing your call center’s processes, leveraging the right technology, and empowering agents with the skills and tools they need to resolve issues efficiently. Below are some key strategies that directly contribute to a reduction in AHT, while ensuring customers receive the best service possible.

#1 Train Agents Regularly: Empower Agents with Knowledge and Skills

One of the most impactful ways to reduce AHT is through consistent, targeted agent training. A well-trained agent is equipped to handle calls with greater confidence and expertise, which leads to quicker resolutions and a more efficient use of time. Training agents on product knowledge, soft skills, and time management will ensure that they can resolve customer inquiries swiftly, without sacrificing quality.

Encourage ongoing learning by pairing high-AHT agents with those who handle calls efficiently. This “buddy system” allows agents to share best practices, identify areas for improvement, and learn techniques that streamline call handling without compromising quality. By listening to calls from peers with lower AHTs, agents can directly observe the strategies that make their colleagues successful.

Additionally, provide early-stage monitoring for new agents to ensure they’re adopting effective time-management strategies from the start. Early feedback is critical for setting the right pace and preventing inefficient habits from forming.

#2 Simplify Processes & Tools: Streamline Systems for Seamless Interactions

Complex, fragmented systems are one of the main culprits for high AHT. If agents need to switch between multiple systems or tools to access customer information, it can significantly slow them down. Streamlining processes by integrating CRM systems and other tools into a single, intuitive dashboard makes it easier for agents to resolve issues quickly.

Ensure that your contact center's ecosystem is cohesive; all systems should be integrated, allowing agents to access a comprehensive customer profile in a single view. This includes access to previous interactions, past issues, and any relevant updates in real-time. The faster agents can find relevant information, the quicker they can resolve the customer’s inquiry, cutting down on call length.

#3 Use AI Scripts & Smart Routing: Direct Customers to the Right Agent, Fast

AI technology can be transformative for reducing AHT, particularly when it comes to smart routing and AI-driven scripts. By utilizing AI scripts, agents receive real-time prompts and recommendations during customer calls, helping them navigate conversations efficiently. Smart routing ensures that customers are directed to the most appropriate agent based on their needs, reducing the time spent transferring calls or explaining issues multiple times.

Integrate AI-powered routing into your system so customers are connected with the right agents right from the start. This reduces time wasted on misdirected calls and enables quicker resolutions. When AI drives the call flow, your agents can focus on delivering a solution rather than spending time on administrative tasks.

#4 Automate After-Call Work: Free Agents from Administrative Burdens

After-call work (ACW) can account for a significant portion of the AHT, as agents often spend valuable time logging information, entering data into CRM systems, or scheduling follow-ups. Automating these post-call tasks can dramatically reduce AHT and free up agents for the next customer interaction.

Encourage your agents to complete post-call tasks during the call if possible. If your system integrates AI-driven workflows for routine tasks, agents can focus on real-time problem-solving during the call and finish administrative work once the call ends. Additionally, ensure that automated processes work seamlessly to avoid unnecessary delays or duplication of efforts.

#5 Add AI Voice Agents for Routine Calls: Let AI Handle Simple Tasks

AI voice agents are highly effective for handling repetitive, low-complexity tasks, such as checking account balances, providing order status, or answering frequently asked questions. Automating these routine inquiries helps reduce AHT significantly by allowing human agents to focus on more complex and high-value customer issues.

Deploy AI voice agents for tasks that don’t require human intervention. This allows your agents to focus on the complex, high-value interactions that require empathy, nuanced understanding, or technical expertise, all of which ultimately improve FCR and CSAT.

#6 Use Real-Time Agent Assist – Empower Agents with Instant Guidance

Real-time assistance is invaluable in helping agents resolve issues faster without compromising quality. AI can provide suggestions during live calls, offering immediate access to knowledge base articles, troubleshooting steps, and even pre-written scripts for common issues.

Provide agents with real-time AI assistance to reduce Talk Time and ensure consistency across all customer interactions. When agents can quickly find the information they need during the call, they can resolve customer issues with greater efficiency, ultimately lowering AHT and improving customer satisfaction.

#7 Track Data & Refine Workflows: Leverage Analytics to Continuously Improve AHT

Data-driven insights and contact center quality assurance (opens in a new tab) are the key to continuously improving AHT. By analyzing call recordings, AHT reports, and customer feedback, managers can identify inefficiencies, adjust workflows, and pinpoint areas for improvement.

Use data to proactively optimize call center operations. Monitor both agent performance and customer wait times regularly. By spotting trends, managers can adjust workflows, improve team performance, and refine call handling processes to reduce delays and enhance efficiency, keeping AHT low without compromising quality.

How to Choose the Right AHT Reduction Strategy with Orvera?

Reducing Average Handle Time (AHT) isn’t just about cutting time; it’s about optimizing the entire call process to deliver faster, more effective service. Orvera redefines how AHT can be reduced by leveraging AI technology that enhances both agent efficiency and customer satisfaction. Instead of focusing purely on speed, Orvera empowers your contact center to resolve calls intelligently and swiftly, ensuring high-quality service without sacrificing the customer experience.

• AI-Powered Routing: One of the most significant contributors to high AHT is hold time, the frustrating wait between customers and agents, often caused by incorrect routing or unnecessary transfers. With Orvera, this inefficiency is eliminated. AI-powered smart routing (opens in a new tab) ensures that customers are connected to the right agent the first time, based on their needs and the agent's expertise. This instant connection reduces hold times significantly and accelerates call resolution, leading to lower AHT without the frustration of repeated transfers.
• AI Voice Agents: Orvera uses AI voice agents to handle routine tasks that take up valuable agent time. Whether it’s answering FAQs, providing order status updates, or checking account balances, AI voice agents take over these repetitive tasks, allowing human agents to focus on more complex, high-value inquiries. This not only reduces the number of calls handled by agents but also ensures that AHT is reduced for routine calls, improving overall operational efficiency. Orvera ensures that agents can focus their time and energy on providing personalized, high-touch service for more intricate issues, which results in a more efficient call center and faster resolutions.
• Real-Time Agent Assist: One of the most valuable features of Orvera is its real-time assist for agents. As calls unfold, the system provides context-specific scripts, suggested responses, and knowledge base articles in real-time. This helps agents resolve issues faster, avoiding time spent searching for answers or figuring out the next steps. The AI acts as a digital assistant, guiding agents through the call, ensuring they stay on track and handle inquiries with confidence, resulting in faster call resolution and reduced AHT.
• Automating After-Call Work: Agents often spend valuable time updating CRM systems, logging call outcomes, and entering data; time that could be better spent assisting the next customer. Orvera addresses this challenge by automating post-call tasks such as call summaries, CRM updates, and follow-up scheduling. This automation ensures that agents can quickly move from one call to the next, significantly reducing idle time and improving overall efficiency.

With a 48-hour deployment, Orvera integrates seamlessly into your existing workflows, requiring minimal disruption. For contact centers grappling with high call volumes, seasonal demand spikes, or the need to maintain personalization at scale (opens in a new tab), Orvera delivers a plug-and-play solution that integrates effortlessly into your existing infrastructure. Ready to see how Orvera can streamline your call center, enhance productivity, and improve the customer experience?