In the hunt for greater efficiency, higher productivity, and a better customer experience, call centers rely on a wide range of performance metrics. Average handle time; call abandonment rate; first contact resolution; the list goes on. But one of the most important is after-call work, commonly referred to by its abbreviation ACW.
What is after-call work? ☎️
ACW is the catch-all term for the various fundamental tasks that call center agents have to perform after completing a customer call. The specifics of after-call work vary depending on the nature of the caller’s query and the steps required to resolve it, but it typically includes things like:
👉 Updating your CRM
👉 Logging the call outcome
👉 Scheduling follow-up actions
Why is ACW important?
After-call work is important because it feeds into another essential call center metric – average handle time. And reducing your average handle time (AHT) has a wide range of benefits, from shortening caller wait times to increasing the number of calls you can answer.
Most call centers take various steps to slash AHT. But whereas call length will always be heavily impacted by the individual caller, everything that happens after the call is within your control. And just a small drop in your average after-call work time could add up to huge savings at scale.
Who measures ACW?
After-call work is measured and tracked by call center managers, supervisors, and team leaders, who use the data to identify opportunities for individual, team-level, and center-wide efficiency savings.
Benefits of low ACW times ✅
First and foremost, reducing after-work call time increases call center efficiency, resulting in lower operational costs. And it can also cut caller wait times, which can add up to smoother calls and happier customers. Everyone wins!
Shorter wait times
If your agents spend less time completing after-call work, it stands to reason that they’ll be ready to answer the next call faster. As such, reducing ACW times can have a knock-on effect on average caller wait times.
Happier customers
As a general rule, callers don’t like waiting on hold. So by reducing wait times, you can also improve customer satisfaction – which, in turn, can lead to smoother calls, faster average handle times, and even shorter wait times.
Lower operational costs
Reducing after-call work means fewer repetitive, labor-intensive admin tasks. This means you can handle higher call volumes without having to increase your head count.
What does ACW usually include? 🤔
While the specifics of after-call work can vary from caller to caller (and call center to call center), it includes actions like logging call notes, scheduling/completing follow-up tasks, and updating your CRM.
Logging call notes
Creating accurate, detailed notes ensures you have an up-to-date record of each caller, giving your agents valuable context the next time they get in touch. Logging call notes typically involves recording:
👉 The reason for the call
👉 The call outcome
👉 Other relevant information (like agreed follow-up steps)
Completing follow-up tasks
Speaking of agreed follow-up steps, agents may be able to resolve some or all of them as part of their after-call work. This could include actions like applying a discount to the customer’s account or scheduling an engineer visit.
Assigning follow-up tasks to the best agent
Agents can’t deal with every type of follow-up task immediately after the call; more complex actions may need passing on to a supervisor, a different department, or even an individual agent with specific expertise. Follow-up actions should be assigned to the most relevant person or team.
Reviewing caller feedback and escalating
Did the caller share feedback during or immediately after the call about the quality of their customer experience? Agents can review this during the ACW stage and escalate urgent issues to call center management.
Updating CRM data
Every call gives you an opportunity to learn something new about the caller, helping you build a more accurate picture of your customers – which, in turn, can help you retain them. That’s the idea, at least. So your agents should update your CRM records after each call.
Sharing essential details with colleagues
Maybe a customer asked a question you’ve never heard before, or perhaps a supervisor has identified a whole new way to tackle a common query. That’s exactly the sort of information your agents should be sharing with their colleagues and management.
Tips for reducing ACW time ⏱️
After-call work shouldn’t be seen as an inconvenience — in reality, it’s essential to a well-functioning call center. But at the same time it’s definitely in your interests to trim ACW as much as possible through measures like efficient note-taking, automations, and AI adoption.
Encourage agents to take notes during calls
Note-taking accounts for a significant chunk of ACW time. You can’t simply stop taking them, because you need a record of the call reasons, outcomes, and actions. Instead, try encouraging agents to take notes during the call.
These shouldn’t be super detailed – after all, your agents still need to pay attention to the caller – but they should help jog the agent’s memory when writing in-depth notes post-call.
Generate AI call summaries
Alternatively (or additionally) to writing notes during calls, you can leverage the power of AI to streamline the note-taking process. Many call center software platforms now feature built-in generative AI capabilities for recording, transcribing, and summarizing calls, which can save a ton of time for your human agents.
Improve efficiency with an AI answering service
Speaking of AI, another solution for reducing ACW time is to implement an AI answering service. Tools like Rosie AI can free up agent time by handling simple calls, booking appointments, and taking notes. So by the time a caller gets transferred to a real human, a lot of the legwork has already been handled – meaning less after-call work for your agents.
Save time with abbreviations and shorthand in notes
One simple but effective approach is to promote the use of common abbreviations, acronyms, and shorthand in note-taking. Sure, writing “POC” rather than “point of contact” won’t save a ton of time on its own – but it all adds up.
Create templates for common notes
Chances are, your agents answer a handful of questions multiple times a day. You likely already have a tried-and-trusted process for resolving those queries. So why not templatize the note-taking process as well? Create prewritten notes for your most common FAQs – that way, your agents only need to fill in the blanks with specific information like customer name and account number, rather than starting from scratch every time.
Identify opportunities for automation
While some after-call work has to be completed manually, there’s plenty of opportunities to automate a bunch of recurring tasks with AI-powered solutions. For instance, sync your call center software with your CRM to automatically add call notes to the relevant customer record, saving agents loads of time on manual data entry.
Use an ACW timer
Another easy-to-implement solution is to start using an ACW timer. That way, you’ll have a record of how long each agent spends on after-call work – so if one agent consistently logs high ACW times, you can follow up with targeted training and coaching. Speaking of which…
Offer targeted training and coaching
Fact is, some agents are better at after-call work than others. It’s up to call center managers to identify areas for improvement and upskill individual team members through targeted training and coaching. This will generally fall into one of three categories:
👉 Expectation-setting: Ensure all agents understand how you measure productivity and why it’s essential to monitor and optimize ACW time.
👉 Listening skills: Better listeners take more accurate and effective call notes. And because they’re more likely to understand the caller’s needs, they can summarize the call more efficiently.
👉 Software training: After-call work often involves a lot of navigating between different software platforms. The deeper their knowledge of those tools, the less time they’ll spend on ACW.
Get feedback from agents
Who knows most about the practicalities and challenges of after-call work? That’s right: your call center agents. Ask them about the specific ACW actions that eat up the most time – if one or two tasks keep coming up, prioritize them in your automation roadmap.
Leverage software integrations
Last but not least, be sure to look out for integrations that join the dots between the various tools in your call center tech stack. Because each integration is an opportunity to save time on low-value data entry tasks.
The bottom line ✍️
While some amount of after-call work is essential, it’s generally best for call centers to keep ACW times as low as possible. Fortunately, there are numerous ways to reduce it, from improving the performance of individual agents through coaching and training, to saving time with AI, automations, and integrations.
FAQs
How is ACW calculated?
Average ACW time is calculated by adding up the total amount of time spent on after-call tasks over a set period – say, one month – then dividing by the total number of calls received during that period. For instance, if your call center handled 10,000 calls in a month and clocked up 20,000 minutes of after-call work time, your average ACW would be two minutes.
What is the average time spent on after-call work in contact centers?
There’s no universally agreed-upon average for after-call work in contact centers. There are just too many variables at play. However, we’ve seen ACW benchmark figures ranging from ~45 seconds to 2+ minutes.
What is the difference between ACW and AHT?
ACW specifically refers to the time spent on after-call work – think note-taking, CRM updates, and other essential admin – whereas AHT measures the average time agents spend handling customer calls. As such, ACW is a factor in AHT; reduce after-call work and your average handle time will drop too.