The Active Conversation Handle Time report can help you understand how efficient and timely your team is in handling Customer Conversations across your communication Channels.
Metrics and Key Concepts #
The Active Conversation Handle Time report uses the following metrics and concepts to quantify the reported data.
| Name | Description |
| Average Active Conversation Handle Time | Conversation Handle Time divided by Conversation Closed |
| Closed Conversations | Conversations Closed |
| Date | The timestamp of when the Conversation was last closed |
| Conversations | See Conversations definition |
Understand the basics #
When to use the Active Conversation Handle Time (ACHT) report #
Use the Active Conversation Handle Time (ACHT) report if you have questions around:
- How is Active Conversation Handle Time (ACHT) changing over time?
- How long are Agents spending time working on a Conversation?
- Is ACHT increasing or decreasing the number of Conversations that are closed?
How often to view the report #
Review this report weekly to gain valuable and actionable insights.
Note
- ACHT is attributed to when the Conversation closes.
- Inbox attribution is the inbox in which the Conversation/Customer is currently assigned.
- Channel filters apply to the first inbound Channel. For example, a Conversation that starts on an email and moves to a chat is considered an email Conversation.
- Conversations assigned to a user who was logged out when a Rule or another user (someone not assigned to that Conversation) closed the Conversation are not included in the counts for this report.
Take action #
Once you understand the report, you can take action and make improvements.
Active Conversation Handle Time (ACHT) is Increasing #
If ACHT is increasing, it means your Agents are taking longer to handle each Customer Conversation. Look into the following points to understand why this is happening:
- Check your Topics report. Are you seeing a certain Topic appear more often than others that could be increasing your handle time? This usually happens when Agents are handling more complex issues.
- How knowledgeable are your Agents? If certain Agents have higher handle times, look into their knowledge skills. It could be that they need a little bit of training to be more successful. You can also look into your Answers and make sure your Agents have all the information they need to help Customers.
- For certain Agents with higher than average handle times, check to see if they are also working in other Channels. Check to see how they are doing in those Channels.
- Look into your Channels. For example, if ACHT is unusually high for email, it could help decrease your handle time if Agents just called the Customer.
- Keep track of overall business metrics such as revenue tracking or Average Transaction Value. While an increasing ACHT can be concerning, you may want to actually reward Agents with higher ACHT if they are driving desired business outcomes.
ACHT is Decreasing #
A lower ACHT means Agents are quickly closing Conversations. Look into the following items and understand why this is the case.
- Are there particular Agents that are closing Conversations particularly quickly? Check with them and perhaps learn how they maintain efficiency.
- Low ACHT is great but make sure it’s not at the expense of other metrics. Make sure your First Contact Resolution and CSAT scores remain high while quickly helping Customers.
Good to know #
- This report can also be generated via API. See our Developer Docs for more details.
- CSV download of this report is limited to 100k rows.
- Listed below are related reports we recommend you use alongside this report:
- Active Conversation Handle Time by Channel
- Active Conversation Handle Time by Topic
- Active Conversation Handle Time by Agent
- Active Conversation Handle Time by Agent by Channel
- Topics
