How to Calculate AHT in Excel

This tutorial demonstrates how to use Excel to determine the average handling time. Employee performance in contact centres and other customer service offices is often evaluated using the Average Handling Time (AHT) statistic. Here, we'll discuss about two quick methods to calculate AHT.

How Long Does It Usually Take to Handle?

An employee's time to assist a customer is known as average handling time or AHT. It determines how soon a worker can resolve a client's issue. Typically, every call center software records the entire conversation between the staff and the client. A lower average handling time indicates that a worker solves a customer's issue faster.

Characteristics of the Average Handling Time

The average handling time is computed using four parameters. These include the number of calls, talk time, hold time, and after-call tasks.

• Talk Time: It refers to the duration that a worker spends conversing with a consumer. Let's say a worker answers ninety-two calls daily. The total talk time for that employee is the duration spent making these calls to speak with clients. In general, talk time refers to the entire duration of an employee's discussion.
• Hold Time: The duration during which an employee places callers on hold is known as hold time. The overall hold time needs to be taken into account here as well.
• After-Call Task: The time needed to solve a customer's issue after concluding a call is known as the "after-call task." It may vary from center to center. For instance, call centres dealing with health-related matters could require more time to handle a problem than other call centres.
• Number of Calls: This is one of the most crucial characteristics of AHT. It denotes the total calls a worker gets within a given time frame.

Formula for Average Handling Time

To determine the Average Handling time, one must tally each employees speak, hold, and after-call task durations. Then, divide the total by the number of calls.

The formula to get the average handling time is:

Sometimes, the acronym ACT stands for "After Call Task."

Excel Provides Two Methods for Computing Average Handling Time

1. Using an Excel formula, determine the average handling time

The data used to demonstrate this approach includes the number of phone calls, talk time, holding time, and after-call task time of a few call center staff. Our dataset's AHT column will compute the Average Handling Time. For our second strategy as well, we will use the same dataset.

To understand this strategy, let's follow the below steps.

Steps:

• Select the Cell F5.
• In the same cell, enter the below formula.

• To view Henry's handling time on average, hit the Enter key.

In the above example, the talk, hold, and after-call task times are totalled using the SUM Function. Afterwards, the number of calls for AHT is divided by the total.

• To view each employee's AHT, use the Fill Handle feature and the drag it till last row.
• At last, the results will appear as follows.

In the above example you will notice that Henry's average handling time is 0:05:20. He takes 4 minutes and 33 seconds to handle a task. Jackson appears to have the lowest average handling time based on the dataset.

2. Use Excel to manually calculate the Average Handling Time

Excel spreadsheet enables its users to manually calculate the average handling time. We will use the above dataset for this example as well.

To learn more, follow the instructions below.

Steps:

• First of all, choose Cell F5.
• Next, enter the following formula:

• Then press the Enter key to fetch the output.
  

Here, the formula adds the data from Cells C5, D5, and E5 and then divides the sum by the number of calls included in Cell B5.

• After that, to view the outcomes, drag its Fill Handle.
• You may view the AHT of each employee by moving the Fill Handle down. The output will be as follows:
  

Advantages of Excel's Average Handling Time

Average Handling Time is a statistic used to assess employee performance and customer satisfaction. However, it is not the only metric used to assess these factors. Furthermore, there are several advantages to increased average handling time that can benefit clients and staff. An organisation that raises its AHT will undoubtedly see increases in customer happiness, employee quality, and cost savings.