Average Handle Time

Average Handle Time

Average Handle Time (AHT) is one of the most widely tracked — and misused — metrics in the contact center.

At its core, it’s simple: how long does an interaction take, start to finish? But in the wrong hands, AHT becomes a dangerous blunt instrument, used to squeeze seconds rather than solve problems. Vitalogy reframes AHT not as a productivity hammer, but as a system health indicator.

Let’s unpack it.

What Is Average Handle Time?

AHT measures the full duration of a customer interaction, typically including:

  • Talk time: How long the agent and customer are actively speaking.
  • Hold time: Time the customer is placed on hold.
  • After-call work (ACW): Post-call wrap-up tasks before the agent is ready for the next conversation.

Formula:

AHT=Total Talk Time+Total Hold Time+Total After Call Work TimeNumber of Interactions\text{AHT} = \frac{\text{Total Talk Time} + \text{Total Hold Time} + \text{Total After Call Work Time}}{\text{Number of Interactions}}

This metric is usually tracked per agent, per team, or across the operation — by channel.

Why It Matters (And How It’s Misused)

AHT is often framed as a “speed” metric: lower is better. But here’s the trap — focusing on reducing AHT without understanding its context almost always backfires.

Shorter handle time doesn’t always mean more efficient. It could mean the agent rushed, didn’t resolve the issue, or skipped empathy. On the flip side, a higher AHT might reflect complexity, cross-functional coordination, or necessary care for high-value customers.

In other words: AHT doesn’t tell you if a call was good. It tells you how long the system needed to resolve it.

Where Vitalogy Stands

1. Context is the Compass

You can’t look at AHT in isolation. A 12-minute handle time for a billing issue might be excellent. For a password reset? Unacceptable. The “right” AHT is relative to the issue type, customer segment, and resolution quality.

2. Interconnected Vitals

AHT should be read alongside:

  • First Call Resolution (FCR): Did we resolve it in one go?
  • Customer Sentiment: How did the customer feel during/after the call?
  • Agent Utilization: Are we maximizing time without burning people out?

Together, these tell you if your system is lean, bloated, or brittle.

3. Design for Action

Rather than “cut AHT by 10%,” shift the mindset to:

  • Remove repetitive steps in ACW
  • Route complex issues to specialized agents earlier
  • Surface just-in-time guidance based on intent

That’s how you actually optimize AHT — not by pressuring agents to wrap faster, but by designing a system where resolution happens cleanly and quickly.

Best Practices for AHT

  • Segment AHT by contact reason. A blended average across all topics hides inefficiencies.
  • Use percentiles, not just averages. The mean gets skewed by long outliers. The 75th percentile often reveals bottlenecks more clearly.
  • Map spikes in AHT to policy, product, or process changes. Long handle times may signal friction upstream.

TL;DR

Average Handle Time is not a leaderboard stat. It’s not an agent scorecard. It’s a system signal — and one that only makes sense when viewed in context.

Use it to ask better questions:

  • Are we equipping agents with the right tools?
  • Are we routing efficiently?
  • Are we measuring outcomes, not just activity?

When you treat AHT as a symptom, not a goal, it becomes a lever for smarter operations — not just faster ones.

Further Reading