The 8 Essential KPIs to Run a Call Centre

Running a call centre without KPIs is like driving blindfolded. Here are the 8 indicators we track daily at Altavista360 to guarantee the performance of our teams. These indicators fall into three complementary families: operational performance (SL, AHT, FCR), the quality perceived by the customer (CSAT, NPS) and workforce health (absenteeism, turnover, adherence). No single family is enough on its own: a site with strong SL but weak CSAT loses customers; a site with high CSAT but runaway turnover loses agents — and eventually loses customers too.

1. Service Level (SL)

The percentage of calls answered within a defined time frame (typically 80% in under 20 seconds). It is the most visible and demanding KPI. An SL < 70% means your customers are waiting too long. An SL > 95% means you have too many agents: costly.

Reading SL in context

SL is never read in isolation: it must be cross-referenced with abandonment rate and volume forecasts. An SL that holds during seasonal peaks but collapses mid-morning usually reveals a scheduling problem rather than a staffing shortage. It is also the indicator most sensitive to incidents, especially in telecoms, where a network outage can explode call volume in minutes.

2. FCR — First Call Resolution

The resolution rate on first contact. Every call not resolved at first contact costs 4 to 6 times more (callback, escalation, declining satisfaction). The ideal target: > 70%.

The KPI that captures real quality

FCR is arguably the indicator most correlated with satisfaction and loyalty. A customer whose problem is solved on the first call forgives almost everything else; a customer forced to call back rarely forgives. Improving it rarely means pushing agents alone: it means working on the knowledge base, back-office permissions and routing quality (the right agent for the right reason).

3. AHT — Average Handle Time

Average handling time. Watch out: an AHT that is too low means a rushed agent and declining quality. An AHT that is too high indicates insufficient training or complex processes. Balance is key.

Steering AHT without sacrificing quality

The classic mistake is to push AHT down through individual targets: the agent cuts the call short, FCR drops, callbacks explode. The right approach is to tackle the structural causes of slowness — poorly integrated tools, heavy procedures, information lookups — rather than pressuring the agent. A well-deployed agent-assist AI acts precisely on these levers, as we explain in our article on AI in call centres.

4. CSAT — Customer Satisfaction

A direct measure of customer satisfaction (post-call survey). > 4.2/5 is excellent. CSAT is the ultimate KPI: it captures technical quality, language proficiency, empathy, and problem resolution all at once.

Measuring CSAT without biasing it

A biased survey (poorly worded question, unrepresentative sample, pressure on the agent) is worse than no survey at all. CSAT benefits from being paired with a qualitative analysis of customer verbatims: that is where the real improvement levers show up, beyond the headline score.

5. NPS — Net Promoter Score

"Would you recommend this service?" NPS measures loyalty, not just satisfaction. An NPS > 50 is excellent for customer support. < 0 is a major warning signal.

NPS vs CSAT: two complementary measures

CSAT measures an interaction; NPS measures a relationship over time. A customer can be satisfied with a call yet still refuse to recommend the brand, because the overall experience remains disappointing. Tracking both avoids optical illusions and points actions at the right levers.

6-8. Absenteeism, Turnover, Adherence

Absenteeism: unplanned absence rate. Target: < 5%. Turnover: agent attrition rate. Target: < 15%/year. Adherence: compliance with scheduled hours. Target: > 95%. These 3 HR KPIs are often overlooked but they determine service stability.

The HR KPIs that underpin everything else

It is too often forgotten that a call centre's performance is built upstream, on the HR front. High turnover blows up training costs, drives FCR down and eventually erodes CSAT. Workforce steering is therefore inseparable from operational steering — all the more so because retention can be engineered, as our guide on recruiting and training multilingual agents details.

Tailoring KPIs by sector

The eight indicators above are universal, but their hierarchy varies by sector. Banking prioritises compliance and first-contact resolution; e-commerce tracks queue abandonment and returns processing time; healthcare watches empathy and confidentiality; energy manages peaks during network incidents; travel and real estate hone conversion and qualification; SaaS monitors escalation to technical support. The right dashboard never shows all eight KPIs at the same level: it foregrounds the ones that matter for your business.