Help Desk Glossary (A-C)

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Abandoned Call

An incoming call to a call center that is aborted before being answered by an agent. ACDs generally track the amount of time the average caller waits before abandoning a call. This information can help your call center provide the appropriate number of agents for various time periods.

Abandonment Rate

The number of calls abandoned represented as a percentage of all incoming calls over a defined period of time.

Advisory Tones

Auditory signals from your call center processing system that indicate activity, such as a dial tone, busy signal, ringing, or call-waiting.

Agent

Call center or service members allocated to handling inbound or outbound calls, support requests, telemarketing, technical support or other requests.

Agent Utilization

A measurement of the number of agents available to handle calls over a period of time.

All Trunks Busy (ATB)

All lines are busy, incoming or outgoing calls cannot be serviced. The caller will usually hear a fast busy signal.

Arrival Time

The time period in hours and minutes over which calls are arriving.

Asset Management

The tracking of hardware and software assets to facilitate management and performance trends of your computer systems.

Audit / Inventory Component

An additional component that integrates with your help desk software to enable asset management.

Automated Attendant

Answers calls with a digital recording via a voice-processing device that allows the caller to access a known extension by entering the appropriate keys on their touch-tone keypad.

Automatic Call Distributor (ACD)

Answers calls and directs them to the first available agent. If the number of calls arriving exceeds the number of agents available, an ACD will place calls in a specified order, so callers wait the minimum amount of time before reaching the next available agent.

Automatic Call Distributor Application Bridge

The connection between an ACD and a database of information. Provides the ACD access to call processing information to expedite and properly route calls.

Automated Voice Response System (AVRS)

A device that automatically answers a call and has the ability to put the call in queue or play a message for the caller to hold or give further instructions to reach a party.

Average Calls in Queue

Average number of calls for any given time period that will wait until serviced by an agent.

Average Delay to Handle (ADH)

The average amount of time a caller waits before answered by an agent.

Average Speed to Answer (ASA)

The average amount of time in minutes and seconds that all calls will wait until serviced by an agent. Includes call in queue as well as calls that receive immediate service.

Average Talk Time (ATT)

The average amount of time in minutes and seconds that an agents spends talking to a caller.

— B —

Benchmarking

A technique of measuring current levels of performance, both within your center and against outside centers, to determine realistic achievement levels.

Business Critical

Term that describes those processes within your organization that are essential to its operation.

Busy

Calls arriving after all trunks are occupied and cannot be completed.

— C —

Call Center

A hub where calls are placed or received for the purposes of telemarketing, sales, customer support, or other business related activity. The call center may contain a few or hundreds of agents who handle calls to relay business information. It may be connected to a data network.

Call Ticket

Information for an incident or issue collected by the help desk. A call ticket may contain detailed information such as, demographics of the customer reporting the incident, devices involved in the incident, previous case history, and actions taken toward it's resolution.

Call Tracking

The process of collecting and managing information taken for a support or service call.

Call Tracking Software

Term that usually applies to a software package that automates the process of collecting and managing information taken for a support or service call.

Caller ID

A service tool that allows an agent to view the number the incoming call is coming from before answering the call.

Case-Based Reasoning (CBR)

An artificial intelligence technology that uses past occurrences to locate solutions for problem resolution. This type of technology works best with a knowledge base that contains a large number of cases.

Client

The workstations or PCs connected to a local area network.

Client Application

A computer program that integrates with the processing capabilities of another program.

Client / Server

A collection of PCs or workstations that are connected to a Server through a local area network (LAN).

Closed Ticket

A call ticket / trouble ticket that has been resolved and requires no further action.

Computer Telephony Integration (CTI)

The integration of computer and telephone systems to enhance communication between these two technologies.

Cost-Per-Call Analysis

Measures the cost-effectiveness of your operation, taking into account the number of agents, equipment costs, and revenues generated.

Customer Effectiveness

Measurement customers includes need for training, unplanned maintenance, and other service interruptions.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

The technique of establishing and maintaining a long-term business relationship with your customers. CRM involves utilizing the data collected during your customer interactions to determine the demographics and future needs of each customer.