Knowledge Center

BPO & CX Glossary

A comprehensive A–Z reference of BPO, contact centre, and customer experience terminology — written for practitioners who need precise definitions, not approximations.

A

ACW

After-Call Work

The administrative tasks completed by an agent after a customer contact ends but before they become available for the next contact. Includes updating CRM records, writing notes, and completing any follow-up actions committed during the call. ACW is a component of AHT and a primary target for efficiency improvement.

AHT

Average Handle Time

The average total time spent per contact, including Talk Time, Hold Time, and After-Call Work (ACW). AHT is used in workforce management calculations to determine required staffing levels. COPC evaluates all three components independently. See also: Talk Time, Hold Time, ACW.

ASA

Average Speed of Answer

The average time a customer waits in a queue before their contact is answered by an agent. ASA is calculated by dividing total customer wait time by total contacts answered. It is used alongside Service Level to assess queue management performance. High ASA indicates understaffing or inefficient routing.

ATA

Average Time to Abandonment

The average duration a customer remains in a queue before abandoning the contact. A low ATA alongside a high abandonment rate indicates customers are unwilling to wait, which may reflect excessive queue times or poor queue experience design.

Abandonment Rate

Call / Contact Abandonment Rate

The percentage of inbound contacts where the customer disconnects before being answered by an agent. Calculated as: (Contacts Abandoned ÷ Total Contacts Offered) × 100. High abandonment rates signal inadequate staffing, poor IVR design, or both. COPC benchmarks abandonment at ≤ 5% for most environments.

Adherence

Schedule Adherence

The percentage of time an agent follows their assigned schedule — being available when scheduled to take contacts, not available when scheduled for off-phone activity, and logging in and out as assigned. Adherence is tracked in real time through WFM systems and is a primary input into occupancy and shrinkage calculations.

Agent Attrition

The rate at which agents leave a contact centre, expressed as a percentage of average headcount over a defined period. See also: Attrition Rate in the CX Metrics Library.

B

BPO

Business Process Outsourcing

The practice of contracting specific business operations or processes to an external third-party provider. In the CX context, BPO typically refers to outsourcing customer contact operations — including inbound support, outbound sales, back-office processing, and technical helpdesk — to a specialist provider.

Blended Agent

An agent capable of handling both inbound and outbound contacts, switching between queues based on real-time demand. Blended agent models improve resource utilisation during low-inbound-volume periods by directing agents to outbound activity.

Back Office

Non-customer-facing processing work that supports front-line operations. In BPO environments, back-office work includes data entry, claim processing, account updates, and document handling. Back-office quality is measured through accuracy and turnaround time rather than CSAT.

C

CSAT

Customer Satisfaction Score

A survey-based metric measuring customer satisfaction with a specific interaction or experience. Typically scored on a 5-point scale; CSAT is the percentage of respondents selecting the top two satisfaction ratings. See the CX Metrics Library for full definition, formula, and benchmarks.

CES

Customer Effort Score

A metric measuring the ease of a customer's experience. See the CX Metrics Library for full definition and formula.

COPC

Customer Operations Performance Center

The global performance management system for customer experience operations. COPC certification and standards are used by the world's largest BPOs and in-house contact centres to structure, measure, and improve CX operations. COPC defines KPI benchmarks, audit methodologies, and operational excellence criteria used as the industry gold standard.

CRM

Customer Relationship Management

Software used to manage customer data, interaction history, and relationship records. In contact centre environments, CRM is the primary agent tool — providing customer context at the start of each interaction and capturing outcomes and follow-up commitments after each contact.

Coaching

A structured one-to-one process in which a team lead or quality evaluator reviews an agent's performance data and recordings, identifies development areas, practises specific skills, and agrees on a measurable commitment for improvement. Coaching is the primary mechanism through which QA data is converted into performance change.

Calibration

The process of aligning QA evaluators — ensuring that different evaluators score the same contact using the same form and reach the same score, independently. Calibration is a COPC requirement and the foundation of a fair, credible quality monitoring programme.

Churn Rate

The percentage of customers who end their relationship with a company within a defined period. In subscription or recurring-revenue businesses, monthly churn rate is the primary retention metric. Reducing churn by even 1 percentage point typically has a significant positive impact on revenue.

Contact Centre

The operational environment in which agents handle inbound and/or outbound customer contacts across one or more channels — telephone, email, chat, social, SMS. The term 'contact centre' has largely replaced 'call centre' to reflect the multichannel nature of modern customer operations.

Conversion Rate

In a CX context, the percentage of customer contacts that result in a commercial outcome — a sale, upsell, renewal commitment, or other defined action. See the CX Metrics Library for full definition.

D

Disposition Code

A classification applied to each contact at the end of the interaction, indicating the reason for contact and/or the resolution outcome. Accurate disposition coding is essential for contact type analysis, FCR measurement, and trend reporting. Poorly defined or inconsistently applied disposition codes are a common data quality problem in contact centres.

Dual-Channel Contact

A customer interaction that occurs simultaneously across two communication channels — for example, a customer on a phone call who is also receiving support via web chat. Dual-channel contacts require specific agent skill design and affect AHT calculations.

E

Escalation

The transfer of a customer contact to a more senior agent, team lead, or specialist when the initial agent cannot resolve the issue. Excessive escalation rates indicate gaps in agent empowerment, knowledge, or authority. COPC views unnecessary escalations as an indicator of process design failure, not agent failure.

Employee Engagement

The degree to which agents feel invested in, motivated by, and connected to their work and their organisation. Agent engagement correlates directly with CSAT performance — engaged agents deliver more consistent, higher-quality interactions. See the Articles section for 'The Link Between Agent Engagement and Customer Satisfaction'.

F

FCR

First Contact Resolution

The percentage of customer contacts resolved on the first interaction, without the need for a follow-up contact, callback, or transfer. COPC benchmarks FCR at ≥70%. See the CX Metrics Library for full definition, formula, and measurement guidance.

Forecast Accuracy

A measure of how closely a WFM team's predicted contact volume matches actual contact volume. Forecast accuracy is typically measured at interval level (15 or 30-minute periods) and is the foundation of effective scheduling. Poor forecast accuracy leads to overstaffing (cost waste) or understaffing (service degradation).

H

Handle Time

See: AHT (Average Handle Time). The total time spent on a single contact, including Talk Time, Hold Time, and After-Call Work.

Hold Time

The duration a customer spends on hold during a contact — active waiting while the agent seeks information, consults a colleague, or completes an in-progress task. Hold Time is a component of AHT. COPC recommends agents inform customers of the expected hold duration before placing them on hold.

Honeypot

In web-based contact forms, a spam prevention technique that adds a hidden form field invisible to human users. Automated form-filling bots populate all fields, including the honeypot. When the honeypot field contains data, the submission is identified as automated and silently rejected.

I

IVR

Interactive Voice Response

An automated telephony system that interacts with callers through voice or keypad input, routing them to the appropriate agent queue or providing self-service resolution for defined contact types. IVR design significantly affects ASA, FCR, and customer experience. A poorly designed IVR increases contact volume by failing to deflect resolvable self-service contacts.

Interval

The unit of time used in WFM scheduling and forecasting — typically 15 or 30 minutes. Interval-level analysis is the standard for accurate staffing calculations. Scheduling from daily or hourly averages produces significant staffing errors at peak and trough periods within the day.

K

KPI

Key Performance Indicator

A quantifiable measure used to evaluate performance against a defined objective. In contact centre and CX operations, primary KPIs include CSAT, FCR, AHT, ASA, Service Level, Quality Score, Occupancy, and Shrinkage. KPIs should be defined with agreed targets before measurement begins.

N

NPS

Net Promoter Score

A loyalty metric measuring the likelihood of customers to recommend a company, expressed as a score from -100 to +100. See the CX Metrics Library for full definition, formula, and sector benchmarks.

O

Occupancy

The percentage of logged-in agent time spent actively handling contacts or in associated wrap-up work. COPC target occupancy is 85–90%. See the CX Metrics Library for full definition, formula, and measurement guidance.

Omnichannel

A customer experience model in which all channels — telephone, email, web chat, social media, in-app messaging — are integrated to provide a consistent, continuous customer journey. In an omnichannel environment, a customer can begin a contact on one channel and continue it on another without having to repeat information. Distinguished from multichannel, which offers multiple channels without integration.

Outbound

Contacts initiated by the organisation to the customer. Outbound activity includes proactive service calls, retention outreach, sales, collections, appointment reminders, and survey follow-up. Outbound operations are typically measured differently from inbound — using metrics such as Contact Rate, Right Party Contact Rate, and Conversion Rate.

Q

Quality Assurance

The structured process of evaluating agent contacts against defined quality standards. In contact centre operations, QA involves selecting a sample of contacts for each agent, scoring them against a calibrated evaluation form, and using the results to identify coaching needs and track performance trends. See also: Calibration, Quality Score.

Queue

The holding state in which contacts wait to be answered when no agent is immediately available. Queue management — through staffing, routing, and IVR design — directly affects ASA, Abandonment Rate, and initial customer sentiment before a contact is answered.

Quality Score

See the CX Metrics Library for full definition, formula, and benchmark. The outcome of a calibrated quality evaluation applied to a specific contact.

R

RPC

Right Party Contact Rate

Used in outbound operations. The percentage of outbound contacts where the agent successfully reaches the intended customer (as opposed to reaching voicemail, a wrong number, or a third party). RPC rate is a key efficiency metric for proactive retention and outbound sales programmes.

S

SLA

Service Level Agreement

A contracted or internally agreed commitment to answer a defined percentage of contacts within a defined time threshold. The most common standard is 80/20 — 80% of contacts answered within 20 seconds — though this varies by industry, channel, and contact type. Service Level is a primary scheduling target in WFM.

Shrinkage

The percentage of scheduled time during which agents are unavailable to handle contacts. Includes planned shrinkage (breaks, training, coaching) and unplanned shrinkage (absence, lateness). COPC acceptable range is 25–35%. See the CX Metrics Library for full definition.

Script

A structured guide for agent conversations — specifying the recommended language, flow, and decision points for defined contact types. Scripts ensure consistency of experience and brand representation across agents of varying experience levels. Effective scripts are frameworks, not monologues — they guide without preventing agents from responding naturally.

T

Talk Time

The active conversation component of AHT — the time an agent spends speaking with a customer during a contact, excluding hold time and ACW. Talk Time is the component of AHT most directly affected by agent communication skills, product knowledge, and script design.

Transfer Rate

The percentage of contacts that are transferred to another agent, queue, or department during the interaction. High transfer rates indicate routing design problems, insufficient agent empowerment, or knowledge gaps. Transfers are a primary driver of customer frustration and CSAT degradation.

V

VOC

Voice of the Customer

The systematic capture and analysis of customer feedback across all channels and touchpoints. VOC programmes combine survey data (CSAT, NPS, CES), contact analytics, complaint data, and qualitative feedback to provide a complete picture of the customer experience. VOC data is the foundation of evidence-based CX improvement.

Vulnerability

In a CX and regulatory context, vulnerability refers to customers who may be in a situation of financial, emotional, health-related, or situational difficulty that affects their ability to make informed decisions or engage with standard service processes. Identifying and appropriately responding to customer vulnerability is a regulatory requirement under the FCA Consumer Duty (UK) and comparable frameworks globally.

W

WFM

Workforce Management

The operational discipline of forecasting contact volume, scheduling agents to meet demand, monitoring real-time adherence, and managing shrinkage — to ensure the right number of appropriately skilled agents are available at the right times. WFM is the foundation on which all other contact centre performance depends.

Wrap Time

See: ACW (After-Call Work). The time an agent spends on administrative tasks after a contact ends before becoming available for the next contact.