Call centres have their own language: ACD, AHT, ASA, FCR, barge, whisper, wrap-up. New supervisors, IT teams and business owners comparing contact centre software run into these terms on every page. This call centre glossary explains the most common call centre terminology and abbreviations in plain words, from A to Z, with links to our detailed guides where one exists.
A
Abandon rate
The share of callers who hang up before an agent answers. A high abandon rate usually means too few agents at peak times or a long IVR. Abandoned callers should be called back.
ACD (automatic call distribution)
The part of a contact centre system that decides which agent gets each incoming call, based on rules such as who has been free longest or agent priority. See call queue management.
ACW (after-call work)
The time an agent spends after a call finishing notes, updating the CRM or setting a callback. Also called wrap-up. See after-call work.
Agent console
The application an agent works in all day: a softphone, the CRM, queue controls, call history and status buttons in one window.
AHT (average handle time)
The average time an agent spends on one call, including talk time, hold time and after-call work. See average handle time.
AI voice agent
Software that answers or makes phone calls and talks with callers in natural language. In a human-first contact centre it answers only when no agent is free and hands the caller back with a summary. See BitVoice AI Agents.
ASA (average speed of answer)
The average time callers wait in the queue before an agent answers.
Attended transfer
A transfer where the agent first speaks to the colleague who will take the call, then connects the caller. The opposite is a blind transfer. See attended vs blind transfer.
Auto answer
A setting that connects incoming calls straight to the agent’s headset, without a ring and accept step.
Auto callback
A feature that calls missed callers back automatically when an agent becomes free, usually only within set hours.
B
Barge
A supervisor joining a live call so that both the agent and the caller can hear them, usually to help with a difficult call. See call monitoring: listen, whisper and barge.
Blended call centre
A team whose agents handle both inbound and outbound calls, usually answering inbound first and making callbacks when it is quiet. See inbound vs outbound call centre.
Blind transfer
A transfer where the call is sent to another extension without speaking to the person first.
BLF (busy lamp field)
Lights or icons on a phone or console that show whether colleagues are free, ringing or on a call. See busy lamp field.
Break reason
The reason an agent gives when going unavailable, such as lunch, meeting or training. It explains time away from calls in reports.
C
Call park
Putting a call on hold in a shared slot so that anyone can pick it up from another phone. See call park and pickup.
Call recording
Saving the audio of calls for quality checks, training and disputes. See call recording for business.
CDR (call detail record)
A log entry for every call: who called whom, when, for how long and how it ended. CDRs feed call reports and billing. See call accounting and CDR reports.
Click to call
Dialling a number by clicking it in the CRM or on screen, instead of typing it on a phone. See click to call CRM integration.
CSAT (customer satisfaction score)
A score from a short survey that asks customers how satisfied they were with a call or service. See CSAT, NPS and post-call surveys.
CTI (computer telephony integration)
Linking phone calls with computer systems such as a CRM, so that screen pop, click to call and call logging work.
D
DID (direct inward dialling)
A phone number that rings a specific extension, team or IVR directly. See DID number in India.
Disposition
The outcome an agent records at the end of a call, such as resolved, call back later or wrong number.
DND (do not disturb)
A status that stops calls ringing an extension. In India, DND also refers to the national registry where people opt out of commercial calls.
DTMF
The tones a phone sends when a key is pressed. IVRs use DTMF to know which option the caller chose.
F
FCR (first call resolution)
The share of customer issues solved on the first call, with no need to call back. See first call resolution.
Follow me
A setting that rings an extension and then other numbers, such as a mobile, until someone answers. See ring groups and follow me.
I
Inbound call centre
A team that answers calls made by customers, such as support, enquiries and bookings.
IVR (interactive voice response)
An automated menu that greets callers and lets them choose an option by pressing a key or speaking. See what is an IVR system and IVR call flow design.
L
Listen (silent monitoring)
A supervisor listening to a live call without the agent or caller hearing them.
M
Missed call worklist
A list of callers who were not answered and have not yet been called back.
MOH (music on hold)
Music or messages played to callers who are on hold or waiting in a queue. See music on hold for business.
N
NPS (net promoter score)
A loyalty measure based on one question: how likely is the customer to recommend you, from 0 to 10.
O
Occupancy
The share of an agent’s logged-in time spent on calls and after-call work, as opposed to waiting for calls. Very high occupancy for long periods leads to tired agents.
Omnichannel
Handling phone calls, WhatsApp, Instagram and other channels from one place, with the same customer history. See omnichannel contact centre.
Outbound call centre
A team whose agents call customers, such as callbacks, follow-ups and reminders.
Q
Quality monitoring
Reviewing calls, usually through recordings and live listening, to check and improve how agents handle customers. See call centre quality monitoring.
Queue
The line of callers waiting for the next free agent in a group.
R
Ring group
A set of extensions that ring together or in turn when a number is called.
S
Screen pop
The caller’s record opening automatically on the agent’s screen when a call arrives.
Service level
The share of calls answered within a target time, such as 80% of calls in 60 seconds. It is the main measure of how quickly an inbound team answers.
Shrinkage
The share of paid agent time not available for calls because of breaks, training, meetings and leave. It is used when planning how many agents to schedule.
SIP trunk
A phone line delivered over the internet or a private link, carrying many calls at once into an IP PBX. See SIP trunks in India.
Softphone
Phone software on a computer or mobile phone, used with a headset instead of a desk phone. See work-from-home call centre softphone.
Supervisor
The person who manages a team of agents, watches queues and helps with live calls.
T
Talk time
The time an agent spends speaking with the caller, not counting hold and after-call work.
Time condition
A rule that sends calls to different destinations by time of day or day of week, such as office hours and after hours. See time based call routing.
Toll-free number
A number, starting with 1800 in India, that callers can dial free of charge. See toll-free number and IVR.
V
VIP routing
Giving chosen callers priority so they reach an agent ahead of others in the queue.
W
Wallboard
A large screen showing live queue and team figures such as calls waiting, service level and abandon rate. See call centre KPIs and the wallboard.
Whisper
A supervisor speaking to the agent during a live call without the caller hearing.
Wrap-up
Another name for after-call work, the time after a call when the agent finishes notes before taking the next call.
Most of these features, from queues and screen pop to wallboards and supervisor monitoring, are built into Voxdial Contact Center. Talk to BitVoice for a demo.
FAQs
What does AHT mean in a call centre?
AHT stands for average handle time: the average time an agent spends on one call, including talk time, hold time and after-call work.
What is the difference between service level and ASA?
Service level is the share of calls answered within a target time, such as 80% in 60 seconds. ASA is the average time callers wait before an agent answers.
What is barge, whisper and listen?
They are supervisor monitoring modes. Listen is silent, whisper lets the supervisor speak only to the agent, and barge lets the supervisor join the call so both sides hear them.
What is ACD in a call centre?
ACD, or automatic call distribution, is the part of the system that decides which agent receives each incoming call, based on rules such as availability and priority.
