How many hours should a call center work?

Finding the Right Call Center Working Hours

How many hours should a call center work

Striking the Balance: How Many Hours Should a Call Center Work?

The best time to work for an office is a challenging job that requires balancing the well-being of employees, efficiency, and meeting customers’ requirements. In this article we’ll look at the various factors that affect call center work hours, and then discuss the factors to consider when finding the ideal balance. How many hours should a call center work?What Is Call Center Schedule Adherence?

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How much time should a call center work

How many hours should a call center work?

How many hours should a call center work? The majority of call center jobs require you to be available for 30-40 hours per week. Many companies provide 24 hour assistance to customers. For this reason agents must be available at all times a client might require or desire to reach them. Therefore, call centers require at least three shifts in order to run.

The morning shift

which is between 8 am to 5 pm.

The afternoon or night shift

between 3 pm to 12 am (midnight).

The night or graveyard shift

It starts throughout the night till early in the morning like 8 am.

Beginning with shifts in the morning: Some people prefer working in the morning, as they feel they are more energetic and are more focused on doing things. However, some complain about morning traffic congestion. Morning shift workers also claim that their days go by quicker. Many people don’t prefer mornings; however, if their favorite television show is on in the evening, they would prefer not to be working at this particular time.

People who work after noon or on night shifts generally don’t like getting up early. They may dislike morning traffic jams or prefer other activities to do in the morning, such as attending the gym or school, or other establishments like banks or office buildings that close at the end of the day. Many prefer working evening shifts or the afternoon shift due to the additional incentive to work after a certain time in the evening, for example at 9 or 10 p.m. Additionally, they benefit from the shuttle service that people who work in the morning do not have.

Finally, the night shift of the graveyard shift.

This is the hardest for the majority of people. This is the reason that graveyard employees enjoy numerous advantages that shift workers don’t enjoy. For instance:

  1. Salary: a graveyard worker’s pay could be one and half times higher than a day shift worker’s pay.
  2. Insurance: they may have better insurance coverage due to their health being at risk.
  3. Workload:  because of the fact that people don’t call at this time, unless they’re urgent or crucial so the call volume could be reduced. If calls are coming from a different location with an entirely different time zone, the workload could be similar since it could be a daytime call for callers. It’s also difficult to find employees to work at this time.

Call center hours: Other things to expect from working at a call center

Apart from the hours for call centers We have also provided the other aspects you need to anticipate regarding working hours and other things after you have started working at the call center:

  • Shifting schedules: If you’re assigned to any of the call center times we’ve discussed previously Be aware that this is not a fixed schedule. Schedules that shift are usually changed at least every few weeks.

  • No holidays : The BPO business in the Philippines generally serves foreign clients from all over the world. This means that national and local holidays in the Philippines do not have an effect on the working hours of daily employees and call center schedules.

    Agents in call centers are typically required to work, however they’re entitled to proper holiday pay.

  • More freebies: It is normal to expect BPO firms to provide lots of freebies for their agents. The freebies typically include tickets to movies, vouchers for shopping as well as buffets that you can eat all day. They are offered as rewards for attendance that is perfect, top CSAT scores or even as bonuses for overtime. 

  • Call center teams: Call center employees work as team members. As you are rated on your performance, you will also be working in a team. Once you’ve completed your call center training it will assign you to a distinct team that has a leader, sometimes referred to as “team leader”.

  • Regular team buildings: Team outings or team building are an everyday occurrence for BPO firms. This is a great way of establishing a positive connection with your colleagues and simultaneously relaxing after a stressful week.

What Is Call Center Schedule Adherence?

Schedule adherence for call center agents is essential for any company to gauge how effectively agents from the business are performing their day-to-day work. The most common metric is whether agents working in call centers adhere according to their schedule to complete a task. The adherence to schedules is crucial to ensure the smooth change between shifts. A strict schedule will ensure that calls to customers are responded to promptly as well as that call centers are staffed to handle demands.

The goal of schedule adherence in call centers is to ensure that the agents follow their schedules for shift times and breaks to ensure the same staffing levels and provide the best customer service. Through monitoring and tracking breaks, attendance, and respect for timetables and schedules, the call centers seek to increase efficiency in their operations and reduce costs while maintaining top-quality customer service.

What Is Call Center Schedule Adherence

How Does Schedule Adherence Work in a Call Center?

Call centers usually utilize real-time monitoring software to monitor schedule adherence. These tools determine an agent’s actual time spent on calls as well as other activities, including breaks after calls, work after call and training. The system compares this actual time with the schedule and calculates a score that determines how well an agent is sticking to their scheduled schedule.

Managers make use of schedule adherence data to detect patterns and trends like agents who are often late or depart early, or with long after-call hours. This data can then be utilized to improve scheduling procedures or provide additional training for agents, or modify the staffing levels to provide better coverage during peak times.

Four Ways to Manage and Improve Schedule Adherence

It is essential to adhere to schedules when managing operations since it ensures that resources, which include equipment, personnel and materials, are utilized at the highest efficiency. Achieving schedule adherence could lead to greater productivity, increased satisfaction with the customer, improved utilization of resources, as well as a greater image. There are four methods to control and increase time adherence.

  • Setting Adherence Grades: Setting center adherence grades could be an effective method to improve and manage time-based adherence. The use of adherence grades can help to increase the adherence to schedules by empowering employees with clearly defined expectations, feedback, and rewards for performing well.

  • Diagnosing Reasons for Adherence Failures: Inability to adhere to a schedule can result from many reasons, such as absence or lateness of employees due to inefficient scheduling, insufficient motivation or involvement, insufficient education or training, and ineffective communication and cooperation.

    To determine and improve schedule adherence it is crucial to identify and address any potential issues This could be done through additional training, increasing communication, or encouraging employee engagement. Also, regularly checking and monitoring adherence to schedules will help you identify areas to improve and make sure that your schedules are met on a regular basis.

  • Engaging Agents in Managing Adherence: It involves customer service representatives keeping track of their schedules and ensuring conformance. This is accomplished via providing current information on their compliance and setting realistic goals. Regular feedback and coaching sessions could assist agents to understand the importance of sticking to the schedules they have set and inspire them to be accountable for their commitment.

  • Discussing Adherence Reports: This requires regularly reviewing and analyzing adherence data of the agents. This helps find patterns and areas of improvement, such as tardiness or extended breaks. Managers are able to discuss these issues with the agents and come up with strategies to increase schedule adherence. The information can also be used to determine targets for performance and monitor the progress over time.

Frequently Asked Questions

The amount of time required for a call center position is contingent on the business or industry, as well as the place of work. But, the majority of jobs in call centers are full-time positions which means they work for 40 hours a week. However certain call centers might offer part-time work that is usually 20-30 hours per week.

Some jobs in call centers need shift work, which means employees might be required to work out of normal business hours, which could include weekends, evenings and on holidays. This is due to the fact that call centers have to be accessible to customers at all times.

The time required for the call center calls varies depending on several aspects, including the type of business as well as the kind of call, as well as the difficulty of the situation. In general, calls to call centers run between 3 to 10 minutes.

Here’s a breakdown the typical call handling time in the industry:

  • Financial services: 8 minutes
  • Insurance: 7 minutes
  • Telecommunications: 6 minutes
  • Retail: 5 minutes
  • Travel and hospitality: 4 minutes

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