Telecommunications Glossary of Terms

Telecommunication Glossary - S

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• Scan: A periodic sample of data (e.g., calls, Call Waiting, Work Volume)
• Schedule: A set of agent tours for each day of the week that provides enough agents to meet the force requirement determined from expected work volume; usually generated by a computer program from force inputs supplied by a Force Manager and adjusted manually for necessary refinements.
• Scheduling Algorithm: The procedures and rules applied by an automated scheduling program to establish tour assignments.
• Service Level: The percentage of incoming calls that are answered within a specified time frame: “X”# of calls were answered in “Y”# of seconds." The lower the seconds the better.
• Service Index: Percentage of calls answered within a target time interval (typically 10 seconds for operator services)
• Service Level Agreement: Agreed upon performance levels reached between the user and the provider of a call center service. A service level agreement specifies a variety of performance standards that need to be adhered to by the call center.
• Session: A continuous period, including relief breaks, in which an employee works without taking a meal break. Typically, a continuous or part-time tour of five or more hours is planned to have two sessions of equal length. Tours of less than five hours are considered to be one-session tours.
• Session Report: Data compiled and organized from the Customer-Service-Switch scans of an agent team’s call activity over a specific period of time. Typically includes measurements of Work Volume, Answer Time, and Occupancy; calculations of agent work time; and forecast estimates based on past data.
• Supervisor: A user-defined group of agents, usually collected under a designated supervisor.