BRAD CLEVELAND Pocket Guide to Contact Center Management Terms As the contact center and customer experience industries continue to shift and evolve, it’s more important than ever to have a strong foundation in and understanding of the key terms and abbreviations used by those in the profession. At Talkdesk, we help organizations deliver exceptional customer experiences and it’s our hope that by using this handy pocket guide, you’ll have a stronger grasp on the included words and phrases. talkdesk.com Pocket Guide to Contact Center Management Terms The Essential Reference for Contact Center, Support Center, and Customer Experience Professionals Brad Cleveland This book is designed to provide information in regard to the subject matter covered. The purpose of this book is to educate and entertain. While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, neither the author nor ICMI shall have any liability or responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused, or alleged to be caused, directly or indirectly by the information contained in this book. If you do not wish to be bound by this, you may return this book to the publisher for a full refund. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without written permission from the publisher, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review. ITIL® and IT Infrastructure Library® are registered trademarks of AXELOS, Limited. KCSSM is a service mark of the Consortium for Service Innovation. All other trademarks, product names, and company names mentioned herein, whether registered or unregistered, are the property of their respective owners. Published by: ICMI 121 South Tejon, Suite 1100 Colorado Springs CO 80903 USA www.icmi.com | [email protected] 800-672-6177 | 1-719-955-8149 Copyright © 2019 ICMI. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America ISBN-13: 978-0-9854611-2-6 ISBN-10: 0-9854611-2-8 Contents Foreword ................................................................. 7 Acronyms and Abbreviations ............................................ 9 Terms and Definitions ................................................... 19 Sources ................................................................. 113 About the Author ...................................................... 115 Foreword Like many fastest-developing professions, the contact center industry has an overabundance of unique acronyms and terms. And as with contact centers themselves, they draw from marketing, finance, technology, customer experience, and other disciplines. But there are great rewards when you and your team understand and use terminology accurately. You communicate more effectively, make better decisions, and enjoy a significant advantage in building your career. In each of these ways, we hope this guide is useful. This pocket guide is designed to be applicable wherever you are located. Spelling, grammar, and terms are largely based on the US market—if you are elsewhere, please forgive the American idiosyncrasies. That said, this is truly a global profession and contact centers everywhere share much in common. Though compact, the guide includes just about every industry acronym and term a manager or supervisor should know. We hope it helps you and your team succeed—and just as importantly, we hope it helps you enjoy being part of this exciting field! Brad Cleveland and the ICMI Team 7 Acronyms and Abbreviations ACD Automatic Contact Distributor ACS Automatic Call Sequencer ACW After-Call Work AHT Average Handling Time or Average Holding Time on Trunks AI Artificial Intelligence ANI Automatic Number Identification API Application Programming Interface ARU Audio Response Unit ASA Average Speed of Answer ASP Application Service Provider ASR Automatic Speech Recognition ATA Average Time to Abandonment ATB All Trunks Busy ATT Average Talk Time AWT Average Work Time Ax Agent Experience B2B Business-to-Business B2C Business-to-Consumer BIA Business Impact Analysis BPO Business Process Outsourcing CAB Change Advisory Board CBT Computer-Based Training 9 Acronyms and Abbreviations CCaaS Contact Center as a Service CCO Chief Customer Officer CCR Customer-Controlled Routing CCS Centum Call Seconds CDR Call Detail Recording or Contact Detail Recording CED Caller-Entered Digits or Customer-Entered Digits CEM Customer Experience Management CES Customer Effort Score CIM Customer Interaction Management CIO Chief Information Officer CIS Customer Information System CLEC Competitive Local Exchange Carrier CLI Calling Line Identity CMS Call Management System or Contact Management System CO Central Office CPE Customer Premises Equipment CPU Central Processing Unit CRM Customer Relationship Management CRS Corporate Social Responsibility CSAT Customer Satisfaction or Customer Satisfaction Score CSF Critical Success Factor CSR Corporate Social Responsibility or Customer Service 10 Acronyms and Abbreviations Representative CTD Cumulative Trauma Disorder CTI Computer Telephony Integration CX Customer Experience CXO Chief Experience Officer DDD Direct Distance Dialing DID Direct Inward Dialing DMS Document Management System DN Dialed Number DNIS Dialed Number Identification Service DSL Digital Subscriber Line DTMF Dual-Tone Multifrequency ERMS Email Response Management System ERP Enterprise Resource Planning EWT Expected Wait Time EX Employee Experience FCC Federal Communications Commission FCR First Call Resolution or First Contact Resolution FIFO First In, First Out FTE Full-Time Equivalent GOS Grade of Service GUI Graphical User Interface HCD Human-Centered Design 11 Acronyms and Abbreviations HTML Hypertext Markup Language HTTP Hypertext Transport Protocol IBC In-Between Contacts ILEC Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier ILT Instructor-Led Training IM Instant Messaging IoT Internet of Things IP Intellectual Property or Internet Protocol IRR Internal Rate of Return IRT Interactive Response Technology IS Information Systems ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network ISP Internet Service Provider IT Information Technology ITIL Information Technology Infrastructure Library ITSM IT Service Management IVA Intelligent Virtual Assistant IVR Interactive Voice Response IWR Intelligent Word Recognition or Interactive Web Response IXC Interexchange Carrier KB Knowledge Base KCS Knowledge-Centered Support 12 Acronyms and Abbreviations KEDB Known Error Database KM Knowledge Management KPI Key Performance Indicator LAN Local Area Network LBS Location-Based Services LCD Liquid Crystal Display LEC Local Exchange Carrier LWOP Leave Without Pay MAC Moves, Adds, and Changes MIS Management Information System ML Machine Learning MM Multimedia MTBF Mean Time Between Failure MTRS Mean Time to Restore Service NCC Network Control Center NLP Natural Language Processing NOC Network Operations Center NPA Numbering Plan Area NPS Net Promoter Score NPV Net Present Value OCR Optical Character Recognition OJT On-the-Job Training OLA Operational Level Agreement 13 Acronyms and Abbreviations OPA Off-Phone Activity PABX Private Automatic Branch Exchange PBX Private Branch Exchange PC Personal Computer PCP Post-Call Processing PSN Public Switched Network PSTN Public Switched Telecommunications Network PUC Public Utility Commission QA Quality Analysis or Quality Assurance QM Quality Management or Quality Monitoring QMS Quality Management System QOS Quality of Service RAM Random Access Memory or Responsibility Assignment Matrix RAN Recorded Announcement RCA Root Cause Analysis RFC Request for Change RFI Request for Information RFID Radio-Frequency Identification RFP Request for Proposal RFQ Request for Quote RM Resource Management RNA Ring No Answer 14 Acronyms and Abbreviations ROA Return on Assets ROI Return on Investment RONA Roll Over No Answer ROR Return on Relationship ROS Return on Sales RSF Rostered Staff Factor SaaS Software as a Service SBR Skills-Based Routing SCA Support Center Analyst SEO Search Engine Optimization SFA Sales Force Automation SIP Session Initiation Protocol SL Service Level SLA Service Level Agreement SLM Service Level Management SMS Short Messaging Service SOHO Small Office Home Office SPOC Single Point of Contact TBT Technology-Based Training TCO Total Contact Ownership TCP/IP Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol TSF Telephone Service Factor TSR Telephone Sales or Service Representative 15 Acronyms and Abbreviations TTO Total Ticket Ownership TTS Text-to-Speech UCD Uniform Call Distributor URL Uniform Resource Locator UX User Experience VDT Video Display Terminal VOC Voice of the Customer VoIP Voice over Internet Protocol VPN Virtual Private Network VR Virtual Reality VRU Voice Response Unit VXML Voice Extensible Markup Language WAN Wide Area Network WAP Wireless Application Protocol WFM Workforce Management WFMS Workforce Management System WFO Workforce Optimization WWW World Wide Web XML Extensible Markup Language 16 terms & Definitions — Numbers and Symbols #. The octothorpe, commonly referred to as “pound sign” or “hashtag.” Hashtags are a common way to tag messages so they can be discovered and grouped. @. The “at” symbol, ubiquitous in email and common in many other forms of communication. 0345 Number. A telecommunications service in the United Kingdom; the caller is charged local rates and the organization pays additional required charges (installation, rental, and usage/distance charges). 0800 Number. The equivalent