Optimizing Contact Center Performance: Minimizing After-Call Work

After call Work in contact centers is the time that supports agents spend to complete the tasks related to customer calls after the call has ended. Typically, ACW includes tasks such as updating the customer database, initiating follow-up calls, etc. According to the International Finance Corporation, it takes an agent about 6 minutes to wrap up post-call formalities after every customer interaction.

While After-Call Work is an important part of the AHT i.e. Average Handling Time which is a crucial metric for evaluating the performance of a contact center, it can significantly impact the productivity and performance of a contact center.

In this post, we will help you understand the concept of ACW and how to minimize it using to improve the productivity and performance of a contact center. Let’s get started!

What is After Call Work ACW?

ACW is a term used in a contact center environment and comprises various tasks or activities such as updating customer records, completing documentation, sending follow-up emails, initiating callbacks, and performing any necessary post-call tasks. Though ACW is important to ensure the correctness of customer information, resolve queries and prepare for further interactions, excessive time spent on ACW can lead to increased call handling time and availability of the support agents.

How Does Excessive ACW Impacts Contact Center Performance?

Hinders Agent Productivity

While doing the After Call Work, an agent is unavailable to take any new customer calls. More time being spent on ACW means a lesser number of calls handled by the agent. Also, it leads to longer call waiting times for callers which can affect CSAT Score.

Increased Operational Costs

When the number of calls handled by an agent gets reduced in a given frame of time due to prolonged ACW, it generates the need to hire additional agents or staff for call handling. This leads to increased operational expenses for the company.

Agent Burnout

More ACW can make agents feel overwhelmed with work especially when the call volume is at its peak. The stress to answer more calls can make agents rush through After Call Work-related tasks which can affect the quality of the work done by them.

How to Minimize After-Call Work in Contact Center?

Use a Cloud Contact Center Software

Implementing a cloud contact center software helps significantly in minimizing ACW mainly by streamlining processes and automating tasks. Let’s take a look at how:

  • Automates Call Logging and Updates

Details related to a call such as customer information, are automatically logged within the contact center software in real-time. This helps the agents in reducing ACW time as they don’t need to enter this data manually into the system.

  • Automates Call Ticketing

Cloud Contact Center software automatically creates customer query tickets and assigns them to an appropriate agent or team. This means that when a call is finished, the call center software generates a ticket automatically using relevant details and assigns it to a suitable agent based on the query of the caller. By automating this process, contact center software reduces the time for issue resolution and thus minimizes ACW.

  • Leverages Call Recording

Call Recording is a useful feature offered by contact center software. It records agent-customer interactions in real-time and stores the recordings for future access and usage. Contact center supervisors and managers can review the recorded audio conversations and provide targeted feedback to help agents in improving their performance and subsequently reduce ACW.

  • Assigns Calls using Intelligent Call Routing

Misrouted calls or transfer of customer calls back and forth not only impacts customer experience but also wastes the time of the agents and results in more ACW. Cloud Call Center Solution makes use of intelligent call routing technology that matches the queries of the customers with the agents based on their skills, knowledge, and expertise. Now when calls are directed to the right agents in one go, the number of transfers and escalations gets automatically reduced thus minimizing After Call Working Time.

  • Offers Real-Time Insights

Contact Center Software comes with the ability to create and provide call reports and analytics that offer valuable insights to contact center companies. Managers and supervisors can review contact center metrics, analyze operational efficiency, identify bottlenecks, and prepare strategies to minimize ACW based on these insights.

Leveraging the Benefits of KloudTalk to Minimize ACW

KloudTalk is a cloud-based contact center software that offers several advanced features to minimize After Call Work (ACW) and enhance the overall efficiency of the contact center. It comes with a user-friendly and intuitive interface that requires minimum learning and allows contact center agents to manage customer calls efficiently and effectively, which results in lower ACW.


ACW refers to the work that an agent performs after a customer interaction has ended. This work is basically a set of necessary tasks that are related to the call such as updating customer records, sending follow-up emails, logging call details, etc.

To reduce ACW in a call center, the business can provide comprehensive training to the agents to automate repetitive tasks and implement advanced call center software for an efficient flow of communication.

Minimizing ACW is important for contact centers because it shortens response time and enhances agent productivity leading to better overall performance and customer satisfaction.

It allows agents to address customer queries and concerns more promptly which means wait times are reduced and resolutions are provided quickly leading to better customer satisfaction.

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